Cheltenham uses 3rd-quarter run to beat Bensalem, claim SOL tournament title

CHELTENHAM >> Brandon Bush took a pass from a driving Josiah Hutson, surged into the lane and rose over a Bensalem defender to  unleash an emphatic one-handed dunk to rock the Cheltenham gym early in the third quarter.

“I think to whoever jump with me then is a problem,” Bush said.

The slam was the highlight of the Panthers boys basketball team’s offensive burst after halftime, the hosts ripped off 13 straight points– the last two coming on another Bush dunk – to turn a 24-21 halftime lead over the Owls into a 16-point advantage.

“The run at the beginning of the second half was definitely a big turn for us,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “I think again seven games in nine days is a daunting task and we say it and it’s not an excuse it’s just a reality, your legs get tired to a point they had one more push tonight.”

The Panthers finished a tough, tiring stretch before the District 1 playoffs by claiming the Suburban One League tournament championship, the top seeds taking control with its run at the start of the second half and topping No. 2 Bensalem 50-37 in the title game Tuesday night.

“I think our biggest thing is to come out with energy,” Bush said. “Cause I think third quarter’s probably our worst quarters and stuff coming through the season,” Bush said. “So I think we had to set the tone, tell the people know why we really 25-0.”

Rasheem Dearry hit a trio of 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 17 points while Justin Savage collected nine of his 11 points in the first half as the Panthers (25-0) earned their first SOL tournament crown in their second appearance in the final, having lost to Pennridge in 2020.

“It’s a good thing for us,” Dearry said. “We’re not done yet, still got district and state playoffs. But it’s a big thing for us and we just came out strong, came out with big energy.”

Jeremy Rodriguez connected on three 3-pointers in finishing with 13 points to pace Bensalem (19-6), which was held to a season-low in points as the SOL Patriot Division champ Owls had their four-game win streak snapped.

Both the Panthers and Owls have byes into the second round of the District 1-6A tournament that will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Cheltenham is seeded third and hosts either No. 14 Central Bucks East or No. 19 Perkiomen Valley. Bensalem, the No. 4 seed, is home against either No. 13 Great Valley or No. 20 West Chester Henderson.

“For us it was a good conference tournament before the (district) tournament,” Fleury said. “I think for us we were able to play Upper Dublin, PW one time (in the regular season) so to be able to come in the tournament and play those type teams again in a three-round tournament was amazing.”

Cheltenham, the SOL Freedom Division champ, maintained its perfect record through a slate of seventh contests in nine days with its only breaks coming last Wednesday then Sunday after opening the SOL playoffs by beating Neshaminy last Saturday.

“A lot of teams really can’t do that, especially the way we’ve been doing it playing like four and five days or like we just did seven in nine,” Savage said. “It’s really hard especially playing all these minutes and a lot of games being close and going down to the stretch.”

The Panthers defeated CB East in the semifinals Monday then started Tuesday a bit slow, trailing 7-5 before taking the lead for good by scoring the first quarter’s last five points. Justin Savage’s dunk to start the second quarter made it 14-10 Cheltenham.

“These guys, I know, their body is tired but their minds are not fatigued,” Fleury said. “I think they have a goal in mind and they just want to try to reach that.”

Another seven-point run capped by a Dearry three had the Panthers leading 24-16 before Bensalem (19-6) answered with the next five – a Rodriguez trey and Allen Myers basket inside pulled the Owls to within three at halftime.

Dearry began the third quarter with a 3-pointer with Hutson finding Bush for his assertive slam for a 29-21 lead.

“I feel like it helped us win the game low-key, not win the game but bring momentum when we didn’t have it,” said Bush, who had six points – all on dunks. “Me starting off slow how I did I think it really got my energy back up.”

Elias Walker scored in transition after his steal to put the Panthers up 10 before back-to-back Hutson baskets. A breakaway slam by Bush extended the lead to 37-21.

“The dunks that you saw Brandon get were second to none,” Fleury said. “I mean he was on the top floor for sure. “So, that there is just amazing – that we have a lot of guys that just understand where they’re most effective at.”

An Aaron Sanders free throw ended the 13-0 run at 2:42 in the third while a Tra Edwards bucket had the Owls down 37-24. Dearry’s fadeaway jumper and two Walker foul shots had the Panthers up 17 with 34.2 seconds before Rodriguez’s corner three at the buzzer to make it 41-27 entering the fourth.

Rodriguez  hit a pair from the line with 6:34 left to have the Owls down 41-29 but that was as close as Bensalem could get. Baskets from Walker and Savage push the Panthers’ lead to 45-29.

In the first quarter, a Rodriguez 3-pointer had the Owls leading 7-5 with a Sanders 3-point play off a drive giving the visitors a 10-5 edge at 3:10.

Cheltenham, however, pulled even after a Johnathan Fevrier putback and a Hutson transition three with a basket from Savage putting the Panthers up two at the end of the opening eight minutes.

Savage’s dunk to start the second quarter had Cheltenham lead at 14-10 but Bensalem stayed close, getting to within one after Antonio Morris basket made it 17-16. But a Hutson steal led to a Bush slam followed by Savage driving for two and Dearry hitting a three for the Panthers’ biggest advantage of the first half at 24-16.

Cheltenham 50, Bensalem 37
Bensalem 10 11 6 10 – 37
Cheltenham 12 12 17 9 – 50
Bensalem: Jeremy Rodriguez 3 4-4 13; Antonio Morris 3 0-0 6; Allen Myers 3 0-2 6; Aaron Sanders 1 2-3 4; Jake Delange 0 2-2 2; Tra Edwards 1 0-0 2; Eric Gonzalez 1 0-0 2; Jalen Soberal 1 0-0 2; Totals 13 8-11 37.
Cheltenham: Rasheem Dearry 7 0-0 17; Justin Savage 5 1-2 11; Josiah Hutson 3 0-0 7; Elias Walker 2 3-4 7; Brandon Bush 3 0-0 6; Johnathan Fevrier 1 0-0 2; Totals 21 4-6 50.
3-pointers: B-Rodriguez; C-Dearry 3, Hutson.