Boys basketball: Neshaminy gearing up for stretch run, District One playoffs

LANGHORNE — The goal for any team is to be playing its best going into the District One playoffs.

Having won four in a row a prior to Tuesday night's 58-48 road loss to Pennsbury with four regular-season games remaining, Neshaminy could be heading in that direction.

Even with the defeat, Neshaminy is 11-7 overall (7-5 in the Suburban One League Patriot Division) and one game behind the first-place Falcons.

The highlight was a 53-42 victory over SOL Continental-leading Central Bucks East on Jan. 17, though the Patriots were without leading scorer Jake Cummiskey (illness). That followed a three-game losing skid in which Neshaminy dropped close contests to Central Bucks South and North Penn, along with a 65-62 overtime defeat at Pennridge.

"We've been moving the ball a lot more, getting everybody involved and making it hard for the defense to play us," said junior point guard Emeer Coombs. "In the three (straight losses), we were a little selfish with the ball."

"We want those games back," said senior wing Sean Curley, who had a game-high 20 points in Friday's 52-38 home victory over Central Bucks West. "We could've won those games if we got our act together. We knew we could be a much better team. We worked it out at practice."

With three juniors in the starting lineup, including leading scorer Nate Townsend (26 points in Saturday's 66-57 non-divisional win over Upper Merion), Neshaminy is balanced and fairly deep.

"We've really bought into our roles," Curley said. "I think the sky's the limit for us."

"Our potential is high," Coombs said. "We just got to keep doing what we're doing and we'll be fine."

The primary goal is to win the division and Neshaminy would like to get a district Class 6A first-round home game, which entails being seeded from 9-16. Neshaminy is 20th in the latest district rankings.

"We are putting it all together more consistently," said Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle. "Should be a fun rest of the season."

Archbishop Wood making a move

Wood's 90-79 victory over host Neumann-Goretti last week was huge for John Mosco and the Vikings. Neumann-Goretti is the the top-ranked Class 4A team in the state and the defending Catholic League champion.

The win was Wood's fourth in a row and seems to show the Vikings are peaking as they prepare for the postseason. Junior Jalil Bethea continued to shine against Neumann-Goretti with a game-high 31 points, but he had plenty of help from junior Josh Reed (17 points) and senior big man Carson Howard (15).

Wood (8-6) followed that up with an 88-57 drubbing of Father Judge for its fifth straight victory behind 29 from Bethea before Monday's heartbreaking 55-54 loss at Archbishop Ryan in which what would've been a game-winning rebound basket by junior Josh Reed was deemed just after the buzzer.

The Vikings host 9-6 Bonner-Prendergast on Friday night at 7.

Here comes Central Bucks South

Central Bucks South is 9-4 since starting the season with five consecutive losses and 7-1 since it was 2-8. The Titans' biggest win during that span was a 62-51 victory at Pennsbury behind 25 points from senior Tyler Meinel on Jan. 19.

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CB South is 9-9 overall and 9-3 in the SOL Colonial Division/crossover action, meaning it is 0-6 in non-conference games against some quality competition. The Titans lost to Perkiomen Valley (58-54), Pope John Paul II (48-47), Malvern Prep (74-46), Episcopal Academy (50-38), Spring-Ford (43-26) and Penn Wood (68-44), with five of those six on the road.

Titans coach Louie Ditri credits additional practice time during the Christmas break and the players adjusting to a mostly new staff — only Mike Razer returned from a year ago — as the biggest reasons for the turnaround. Four of the six non-conference losses were prior to the new year.

CB South has moved up to 26th in the 6A district rankings with the top 24 qualifying for districts.

300 reasons to smile at Pennridge

Kudos to Pennridge coach Dean Behrens for picking up his 300th win in Friday's 74-53 victory at Bensalem. Behrens' teams are 170-83 over the past 10 seasons (counting this year) after going 130-230 in his first 15 seasons at Pennridge.

Behrens was voted the PA Class 6A Coach of the Year for guiding Pennridge to the 2018-19 state championship game.

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Public school rankings (with record):

1. CB East (16-2)

2. North Penn (14-4)

3. William Tennent (12-5)

4. Pennridge (12-6)

5. Pennsbury (11-6)

6. Neshaminy (11-7)

7. Bensalem (10-7)

8. Abington (9-8)

9. Upper Moreland (11-7)

10. (tie) CR North (9-8) and CB South (9-9)

Private school rankings (with record)

1. George School (16-4)

2. Archbishop Wood (8-6)

3. La Salle (9-7)

4. Dock Mennonite (14-2)

5. Holy Ghost Prep (10-8)

Games to watch

Souderton at North Penn, Friday (7 p.m.): North Penn boasts a 10-game win streak after defeating Pennridge 68-61 on Tuesday night. Teddy McAllister scored 19 points and Ryan Zeltt had 17 in the Knights' 80-61 win at Souderton on December 16.

Central Bucks South at Central Bucks East, Friday (7 p.m.): The Titans get another shot at the SOL Colonial-leading Patriots, who are seeking a three-peat. CB East rallied to prevail 61-58 on December 13 behind Cummiskey's 21 points and junior Justin DiRoberto's three-point play with 8 seconds left.

MAST Charter at Plumstead Christian, Tuesday (7 p.m.): Plumstead (7-7) hosts MAST Charter in a Bicentennial Athletic League game. Senior Billy McFadden (13-point average) is the Panthers' leading scorer.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Boys basketball: Neshaminy gearing up for stretch run, district playoffs