City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The Suburban One League’s bracket is officially finalized, the last of the four major District big-school leagues to wrap up its regular season now turning its attention to the playoffs. 

Each of the four boys and girls SOL division winners make it to their respective eight-team brackets, along with the four non-champions with the highest points rating in the District 1 system. Quarterfinals will be played Friday night at higher seeds, with the semifinals the same day, also hosted by the higher seed; Bensalem plays host to the championship games on Tuesday evening.

The SOL girls’ race seems to come down to two powerhouse squads: Liberty champs Upper Dublin (20-1, 10-0) and Colonial champs Central Bucks East (19-3, 10-0). The two played each other on Jan. 16, a 52-48 Upper Dublin win at East, and the Patriots are certainly itching for another shot at the Cardinals; they’re likely to get one in this tournament, and could see them again in both districts and states. 

Upper Dublin features the league’s best lead guard in senior Megan Ngo, a Fairleigh Dickinson commit, as well as 5-11 sharpshooting senior Emilia Coleman (La Salle) and 5-9 junior Tamia Clark, who gives them a trio of Division I recruits, though head coach Morgan Funsten has a terrific top six who play the majority of the minutes when you include junior Bridget DiMartile and sophomores Ella Morris and Lexi Ngo. CB East has a terrific lead guard of its own in junior Haley Moran, a budding star in freshman Payton Williams and quality experienced seniors in Jess Lockwood, Emma Penecale and Nat Berndt, giving head coach Liz Potash length and athleticism across the board.

That’s not to say the rest of the girls’ field isn’t competitive. Patriot champs Pennsbury (17-4, 9-1) have a strong backcourt of juniors Sammie Haws and Joley Hohman plus sophomore Alyssa Thomas, and they’ll play No. 6 seed Plymouth Whitemarsh in the first round. The Colonials (15-7, 8-2) have had a quality season thanks to senior guard Kenna Winland and junior forward Eliza Meersman, but they haven’t been able to hang with Upper Dublin in either meeting this year. 

Freedom champ William Tennent (16-5) grabbed the No. 4 seed, led by seniors and 1,000-point scorers Avery Kocur (Holy Family) and Halie Staub along with classmate Megan Volz; they’ll play No. 5 Neshaminy, which has a terrific junior group led by Hayley Kolk, Grace Weyler and Ashlyn Duffy, in the first round. Bensalem, the No. 7 seed, features do-everything senior wing Grace McShane, one of the league’s most productive players; No. 8 Souderton, a late fill-in for Cheltenham, faces a steep uphill battle against Upper Dublin, leaning heavily on junior guard Olivia Herron and freshman Maddie Nenstiel.

As for the boys’ tournament, Liberty champs Plymouth Whitemarsh (17-5, 9-1) enters as the top overall seed, head coach Jim Donofrio and crew with a squad that’s got eyes on both District 1 and PIAA 6A title runs as well. Senior guard Mani Sajid (Towson) and senior forward Michael Pereira (Penn) lead an upperclassman-laden group all back from last year, with size, skill, length, shooting, you name it on the roster. They already played No. 8 seed Central Bucks East (14-8, 5-5 Colonial) back on Jan. 16, a 79-44 PW win; the Patriots lean on senior guard Henry Bartchak and a sophomore class that includes 6-3 forward Keegan Marascio.

The Colonials have a few significant challengers to their crown, and not just in the top seeds. Second-seeded Souderton, the Colonial champs (17-5, 8-2), have eyes on breaking a 14-year state playoff drought behind senior guards Chanse Salone and Nate Rusike, but they’ve got a tough quarterfinal draw in seventh seed Abington (16-5, 7-3), which has a number of quality wins this season (West Catholic, Upper Dublin, Spring-Ford) but also lost to Souderton 67-48 on Jan. 16. It’ll be surprising if Xander Grasty and Co. don’t make it more competitive the second time around. 

The other two semifinals feature four teams that could all be at Bensalem on Tuesday. 

Third-seeded Cheltenham (14-7, 10-0) went unbeaten in the Freedom and has won eight of its last nine overall, getting strong play from a senior group including guards Chris Harmon and Mark Hill. They get CB South (18-4, 7-3), the No. 5 team in the District 1 6A rankings, with two wins over Souderton amongst other quality wins under its belt, behind the play of senior forwards Leo Medwid and Kayode Adebayo.

No. 4 Council Rock South (14-8, 8-2) rallied for its first-ever Patriot title, winning its last seven games behind the play of senior guards Ryan Delp, Ray Haglund and more, but has no easy task in hosting No. 5 Upper Dublin, the defending league champs and a talented group featuring 6-5 junior Justin Ragland and 6-2 senior Noah Cohen among others.

Here are the full schedules for the boys and girls’ tournaments: 

Boys
Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 6
1) Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. 8) Central Bucks East (7:00 PM)
4) Council Rock South vs. 5) Upper Dublin (6:00 PM)
2) Souderton vs. 7) Abington (6:00 PM)
3) Cheltenham vs. 6) Central Bucks South (7:00 PM)

Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 7

Championship: Tues., Feb. 10

Girls
Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 6
1) Upper Dublin vs. 8) Souderton (6:00 PM)
4) William Tennent vs. 5) Neshaminy (6:00 PM)
2) Central Bucks East vs. 7) Bensalem (6:00 PM)
3) Pennsbury vs. 6) Plymouth Whitemarsh (6:00 PM)

Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 7

Championship: Tues., Feb. 10