Third as a sophomore in 2021 then finishing second last year, Staub claimed first place in his final try at the tournament hosted in his home gym, winning the 147-pound title with a 5-0 decision over Harriton’s Nadav Nafshi.

“There was definitely pressure but I just had to stick to what I know, I mean I’ve been doing it since I was five,” Staub said. “So it’s the same thing, same warmup. I mean, it was tough competition, state qualifier in Nadav, he’s a great wrestler but I wanted it. This is my hometown, I needed this win as a senior and it felt great.”

Staub was one of two Hatboro-Horsham wrestlers to win their weight class – freshman Dominick Morrison taking gold at 109 – while Central Bucks East and Central Bucks West also came away with a pair of first-place finishes.

“I put a lot of work in in the offseason,” said Staub, who improved to 12-2. “I worked a lot on neutral. I think that’s the start of the match, you score first, you take someone down, you’re in great position so I put a lot of work in in neutral to help me stay in these close matches. And if I can take down a state qualifier, I can wrestle with anyone.”

Pennsbury, which matched Pottsville with three tournament champions, finished atop the team standings with 189.0 points. Neshaminy was second (172.5), West Chester Henderson third (145.5) and Hatboro-Horsham fourth (143.0).

CB West sophomore Chris Dennis, who placed sixth in 114 at the PIAA Championships last season after winning the South East Regional title, picked up his second Wetzel title with a 16-0 tech fall over SCH Academy’s Sean Brett in the 135 final.

“Regional title’s good and that was a great season I had last year but job’s not finished,” Dennis said. “State championship, I just want to be the first state champion in Central Bucks West history and that’s my goal.”

Dennis capped off his tournament with consecutive tech falls. He bested Henderson’s Angus Whitaker in the semis 19-4 in 5:14 then in the final against Brett jumped out to an 11-0 lead after the first period on a takedown and four near falls.

“The biggest thing I’ve been working on in the offseason is my attacks,” said Dennis, now 12-0 this year. “I don’t really shoot that much but I tried to shoot more this time. Usually do slide-bys but I want to be more offensive because when I look at the best college wrestlers and Division I-level wrestlers, they’re very offensive, like Spencer Lee, Matt Ramos, all those guys and I just want to be like that.”

Dennis’ teammate Patrick Kelly followed with a win in the 141 final, the West junior earning a second Wetzel gold – he won as a freshman in 2021 – with a 13-2 major decision over Alife Overton of West Chester Henderson.

CB East senior Regan McCullough won 217 with a 17-1 tech fall over Carlisle’s Bradyn Jumper in 3:28. Patriots senior Joe Collins, last year’s regional champ at 285, captured a Wetzel title for the second straight season with a 16-1 tech fall over Roman Catholic’s Devin Johnson at 4:39 in the 287 final.

Morrison secured the 109 title for the hosts by pinning Pennsbury’s Brett Kean in 1:47. Morrison topped Lenape’s Eric LaGrotta in the semis by tech fall 19-3 in 3:08.

Last year, Staub reached regionals at 139 after taking first at District 1-3A South. He lost in the quarterfinals then bounced back with two wins in consolations to have two shots at advancing to states. Staub, however, lost both matches to place sixth and ended his junior campaign at 33-10.

“Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to be a state qualifier and I’ve always fell a little bit short,” Staub said. “Pressure was definitely on. I had two chances to win, I had a chance to win and I lost to (Central Bucks South’s) Jake Neill, and I had a chance to win blood round against an Owen J. Roberts kid (Mason) Karkoska and I lost again. And I think the pressure got to me there.

“So that’s just something, this is just a sport, you know – it’s fun. I just got to let loose a little more. It matters but just go and wrestling, you know – if you just leave it all out on the mat, whatever happens, happens and you just got to keep running.”

Staub reached Friday’s 147 final with a 19-2 tech fall win over Roman Catholic’s Rocco Trivelli in 3:22. Against Nafshi — who at 2023 regionals took fourth at 133 — Staub grabbed a 4-0 lead with a takedown in each of the first two periods.

“When you’re wrestling tough opponents like that, every little thing matters,” Staub said. “You have to make sure everything’s perfect. If you make a mistake, they’re going to score on that mistake. You just got to wrestle through position and that’s the biggest thing Trent (Mongillo), my coach Trent is always saying, wrestle through position, never stop wrestling.

“Even when we wrestle in neutral – I mean I think neutral and top won me that match. I was able to take him down and he wasn’t able to get up on bottom.”

Hatboro-Horsham also had two second-place finishes from Tyler Pagano and Ryan Allgeier. Pagano lost 14-10 to Appoquinimink’s Roman Kubler in the 116 final while Allgeier dropped a 9-2 decision to Pennsbury’s Kyle Von Schmidt at 123.

Cheltenham’s Rah’Miere Sanders and Corey Bradley each earned second in their respective weights. Sanders was pinned by Pennsbury’s John Luchansky at 3:02 in the 129 final while Bradley was edged 5-4 by Pottsville’s Terrell McFaland at 174.

Cardinal O’Hara’s Brigidanne Donohue, making just her second career start, hit the biggest shot of Friday’s game against Germantown Academy but only after hitting the game’s two other biggest shots on the previous two possessions. Donohue’s back-to-back-to-back threes were part of a 10-point fourth quarter by the freshman and tilted a close game between two quality teams.

The Lions ended their holiday tournament with a win, fending off GA 42-37 on Friday to remain unbeaten on the year.

“The refs were letting us play and that’s what it came down to,” O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan said. “I told the girls you get into them a little bit and be a little more physical. It was a good game, they have a lot of seniors, we have a lot of seniors, so it was a good way to test the maturity of the team.”

Donahue and junior Molly Rullo tied for the Lions’ (9-0) lead with 13 points each. Sophomore Megan Rullo added nine points, four rebounds and six assists while senior Carly Coleman notched seven points for the Lions, who only got scoring from four players but contributions from all eight who saw minutes.

Germantown Academy (9-2) was paced by 18 from senior Isabella Casey, who added nine rebounds. Junior Gabby Bowes added nine and junior Jess Kolecki had six for GA, which saw an eight-game win streak snapped and dropped to 9-2 on the year.

Playing O’Hara at O’Hara was a definite test and first year coach Lauren Power believes it’s one her team will benefit from.

“My message to my team was just that I was really proud of their effort and their intensity,” Power said. “We knew it was going to come down to the defensive end and they made a couple plays. I was proud of the way that we played and I think the things that didn’t go well for us are easily fixable, so I feel good about that.”

Overall, the game was very well-played and at a pretty quick pace. Neither side was whistled for many fouls, the Patriots only getting there when they had to start putting Cardinal O’Hara on the line in the fourth quarter and both teams stayed within a few possessions the entire way.

Kolecki had a layup to beat the first quarter horn for a 10-10 tie, the Lions responding when Molly Rullo hit Megan Rullo for a go-ahead layup in the waning seconds of the first half. O’Hara, boosted by Donohue’s first score of the game, took a 26-20 lead in the third, but GA cut back to within 28-26 going to the final stanza when Casey scored off a nifty find by Kolecki ahead of the horn.

“This is one of the toughest environments you can have to play in,” Power said. “It’s a road game in the Catholic League, you’d have to look hard to find a tougher opponent than O’Hara and all things considered, you never want to walk out with an ‘L’ but I think you learn more in the losses and this game’s going to come back to really help us.”

GA pulled in front early in the fourth when Bowes drained a three off a Jess Aponik assist. That 31-28 lead held for about three minutes with defense reigning for both sides.

Then it would be the Donohue show. The freshman is only starting due to an injury to O’Hara senior Joanie Quinn, the La Salle recruit stepping in pregame to make sure her understudy knew the whole team was behind her.

“Joanie just said to her ‘you’re ready, this is your time’” Doogan said. “I think it was fun for everybody, the crowd, her family was here, to kind of see her have that moment.”

Megan Rullo got the shot-making display going, the sophomore saving a tipped pass under the hoop and kicking to Donohue in the corner for the tying three in front of the Lions bench. After a stop, Rullo Donohue connected again, this time off a baseline inbound with a screen flaring Donohue open on the opposite wing for the go-ahead three.

One more stop and one more inbound play, this one helped by an extra pass from Molly Rullo, got Donohue a look from straight on that she of course sank for nine points in about 70 seconds.

“Shooter’s gotta shoot,” Doogan said. “She missed her first couple then nailed her last three. She’s a confident kid, I’ve seen her play since she was in fifth or sixth grade and nothing fazes her.

“It’s the same face, you’d never know if anything’s bothering her. For her to step in and have that confidence was awesome.”

The Patriots took the shots, then almost immediately cut the lead back to just two at 37-35. O’Hara’s defense really buckled in, the Lions not caring if it was a five-second call, a tip or deflection, a steal or just a rebound off a miss, and put together enough stops over the final two minutes to lock in their 10th win of the season.

“We’ll look at this closely and see what could we fix, what could we do better but O’Hara is so disciplined and so poise and that’s something down the stretch we need to continue to play together,” Power said. “We had a couple miscommunications, we knew Brigidanne was a player and a good shooter, we had a couple breakdowns and left her open.”

Cardinal O’Hara 42, Germantown Academy 37
Germantown Academy 10 8 8 11 – 37
Cardinal O’Hara 10 9 9 14 – 42
Germantown Academy: Isabella Casey 18, Gabby Bowes 9, Jess Kolecki 6, Jess Aponik 2, Jenna Aponik 2.
Cardinal O’Hara: Molly Rullo 13, Brigidanne Donohue 13, Megan Rullo 9, Carly Coleman 7.

“Well, my first teammate Alex Hermann threw it to Sal and I looked at the clock, glimpsed at it and then it was like six seconds left,” Matos said. “So I thought maybe I’m a have time to pump fake, drive.”

After getting around Wissahickon defender driving from the right wing, Matos was met by another only to put a hanging shot over him and in off the backboard just before the buzzer, capping a 21-5 second quarter by the Warriors that gave them a 33-14 halftime lead in Thursday night’s Perkiomen Valley Holiday Shootout matchup.

“I thought we just brought a lot of energy coming in from the first quarter to the second quarter that provided us to make plays that we didn’t make in the first,” Matos said. “With more energy comes better offense, better transition, better defense. If we keep increasing that throughout the game, we’ll be a great team I think.”

Matos had 14 points at the break and added a few key baskets in the second half to keep the Trojans at bay, recording a game-best 26 points as Methacton earned a 61-49 victory.

“With the versatility we have out there, the depth we have out there, somebody’s going to face a mismatch to be able to attack off that,” Warriors coach Pat Lockard said. “And so he’s been able to really be under control, patient as you said, with shot fakes and not always taking the open three there and mixing it up.”

Anthony Daddazio drained a trio of 3-pointers in adding 10 points for Methacton (7-2, 3-0 PAC, 2-0 PAC Liberty), which extended its win streak to four.

Matos posted six points Wednesday as the Warriors opened the Shootout with a 66-43 victory over North Penn. Thursday the sophomore followed a five-point first quarter by dropping nine in the second – seven coming during Methacton’s 9-0 run to end the half.

“I had only six points but my teammates still thrived and we still won by 20,” Matos said. “Coming into this game, I thought I didn’t need to score for us to win but it’s just my teammates finding me.”

Methacton led by as much as 21 twice early in the third before Wissahickon (3-7, 3-3 SOL Liberty Division) whittled the margin to 44-30 going to the fourth.

The Trojans got the deficit down to 10 twice in the final quarter, the second time at 53-43 after a Brayden Ryan basket. But Matos connected on a runner, Iemmello scored inside and drew a foul with 1:23 remaining and a Mason Conrad free throw at 53.1 seconds put the Warriors up 15.

“They hit a few more jumpers than we were hoping for and that’s always going to happen against a competitive team there,” Lockard said. “But the guys did a great job.”

Nico Vacchiano paced Wissahickon with 17 points, 12 coming in the second half. Ryan and Dom Vacchiano both had 11 points for the Trojans, who have lost their last three since knocking off Plymouth Whitemarsh Dec. 19.

Both teams begin January on the road, Methacton visiting Owen J. Roberts for a PAC Liberty game Wednesday while Wissahickon is at Upper Moreland for an SOL crossover contest Friday, Jan. 5.

“We know there’s no easy games in our division, in our conference – the other side of things playing some good basketball,” Lockard said. “And we have some good teams, we have Phoenixville in the second half, we got Pottstown in the second half as well for our crossover games on top of we start with OJR and Spring-Ford.”

Methacton never trailed after grabbing a 5-0 lead after Matos scored on a baseline drive and Daddazio hit a 3-pointer.

A Matos corner trey made it 10-3 before consecutive threes from Josh Palutis and Dom Vacchiano had the Trojans within 10-9. Iemmello’s fast-break layup in the final seconds put Methacton up three at the end of the first quarter.

Dom Vacchiano’s basket had Wissahickon again within three at 14-11 but the Warriors proceeded to go on a 10-1 run, extending their advantage to 24-12 after a Hermann baseline runner.

After a two by Nico Vacchiano, the Warriors collected the half’s last nine points, beginning with a Matos 3-pointer. Manny Rodriguez hit two free throws at 40.2 seconds for a 29-14 lead. Matos scored off his steal then after a missed Wiss three, the Warriors pushed the ball up the court to Matos for his last-second bucket to go into intermission up 33-14.

“We’re so good in transition that we have so many ball handers out there that we get an outlet pass and we attack and we have guys that have great finishing ability and in transition that’s tough to stop there without having a set defense,” Lockard said. “I think when we get those stops, as cliché as it is, that really spurs our offense to be able to attack off that.”

After a Daddazio trey had Methacton up 38-17, Wissahickon scored the next seven. Another Daddazio triple made it 41-24 before baskets from Nico Vacchiano and Palutis pulled the Trojans within 41-28. A Matos offensive rebound kept alive a Warriors possession, which ended with Matos connecting on a three.

Palutis’ basket to cap the third and a Ryan three to start the fourth had Wiss down 44-33 but Methacton responded with seven straight points – a Hermann bucket making it 51-33 Warriors. However, a Dom Vacchiano trey, Ryan’s 3-point play at 5:09 and two Nico Vacchiano free throws at 3:43 put the margin at 51-41.

Matos snapped the 8-0 run with a basket after Methacton broke through Wissahickon’s press. Two from Ryan had the Trojans again within 10 at 53-43 but the Warriors posted the next five points to go up 58-43 with 53.1 seconds left.

Methacton 61, Wissahickon 49

Wissahickon 9 5 16 19 – 49

Methacton 12 21 11 17 – 61

Wissahickon: Nico Vacchiano 7 0 3-3 17; Brayden Ryan 2 2 1-1 11; Dom Vacchiano 13 0-2 11; Josh Palutis 2 1 1-2 8; Gave Lassiter 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 13 6 5-8 49.

Methacton: Christian Matos 7 3 3-4 26; Anthony Daddazio 0 3 1-2 10; Sal Iemmello 4 0 0-1 8; Alex Hermann 3 0 0-0 6; Manny Rodriguez 0 1 2-2 5; Wes Robinson 2 0 1-1 5; Mason Conrad 0 0 1-2 1; Totals 16 7 8-12 61.

But Perkiomen Valley’s Julian Sadler was quick to stamp out any of the Knights’ momentum, the senior guard responding with a personal 6-0 run — his bucket off a steal pushing the Vikings’ advantage to 39-19.

“In that situation, kind of just slow the game down and get a good shot, especially when they have some energy,” Sadler said. “And if we kind of get out of control, they’re going to build off that energy but we just played our style and we got good shots.”

PV continued to cruise from there, Sadler finishing with a game-high 26 points — 17 in the first half — as the Vikings earned their fourth straight victory, topping the Knights 57-37 at the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Shootout Thursday night.

“We did come out a little flat in the third,” Sadler said. “After the timeout we just regrouped, we got everything situated and we just started playing. We came out sleepwalking so we just got everything together after that timeout.”

The Vikings (8-2, 2-1 PAC, 1-1 PAC Liberty) picked up a pair of convincing wins as Shootout host, starting Wednesday by rolling past Wissahickon 67-41.

Sadler, who recorded his 1,000th career point in the win over Boyertown Dec. 19, scored 10 in Thursday’s opening quarter as Perk Valley jumped out to an 18-6 advantage. PV’s defense held the Knights to just six more points over the next eight minutes to take a 33-12 lead into the break.

“I think that is definitely some good wins,” Sadler said. “I think we played very well as a team, we recognized mismatches, attacked mismatches. We played very good team defense and I think going into the new year it’s obviously good that we’re 8-2, we haven’t lost in a little bit but I think January, that’s the most important basketball.”

Perk Valley had an 8-1 start in 2022-2023 before hitting a rough patch in January, losing five of seven. The Vikings won five of its next six to finish the regular season 15-7. After falling in double-overtime to Upper Merion in the PAC semifinals then an upset loss to Upper Darby in the District 1-6A second round, a win over Neshaminy in playbacks clinched PV’s first PIAA berth since 2019.

“Last year we learned a lot cause we dropped a lot of games and it’s just a shame,” Sadler said. “That stayed with us the whole offseason up to now. This whole December we were pretty much on the road and that’s where a lot of our losses were last year.

“So now that we’re home for a lot of January, hopefully we can instead of regress from what we’ve done in this month we want to kind of build on it and just not get comfortable at all cause we haven’t really gotten to the brink of league play.”

Jakob Harken finished with 13 points for the Vikings, who have not lost since falling at Methacton 57-49 in their PAC opener Dec. 15.

Ahmaar Godhania connected on three 3-pointers in scoring a team-best 14 points for North Penn (4-7, 3-3 SOL Colonial), which has lost four straight and six of its last seven.

Perk Valley is home Tuesday against Norristown in PAC Liberty contest while North Penn hosts Neshaminy in an SOL crossover on Friday, Jan. 5.

Four straight points from Harken had the Vikings out to a quick 6-0 lead. A Godhania jumper pulled the Knights to within 8-6 but Sadler knocked down a three then converted a 3-point play with 1:15 left in the first quarter. Sadler then ended an 8-0 personal run with a turnaround jumper for a 16-6 PV advantage.

“Norman Gee’s a great defender, he’s quick, he’s really good at staying in front of me,” Sadler said. “So I just kind of let my teammates get going first and then I kind of let the game come to me and played through the post a lot and my teammates found me and I was able to create from there. So it was a team effort.”

Harken scored off a drive from the right wing to put the Vikings up a dozen at the end of the opening period.

Josh Tagert made it 12 straight PV points before Godhania hit two free throws at 7:01 in the second quarter. Sadler, however, connected on a three with a Tagert basket increasing the Vikings’ lead to 25-8.

A Godhania triple had the Knights down 14 but Perk Valley collected seven of the half’s final eight points – a Harken free throw with 21 seconds left sending the hosts into the half up 33-12.

Gabe Altemus’ basket capped North Penn’s 7-0 run to start the third to get within 33-19 only for Sadler to score the next six.

Perk Valley led 45-23 after three quarters and pushed the margin to as large as 26 at 49-23 after baskets from Sean Wagoner and Harken to start the fourth. North Penn ripped off nine straight to make it 49-32 before Sadler’s 3-point play on a second putback attempt with 3:39 left.

Perkiomen Valley 57, North Penn 37

North Penn 6 6 11 14 – 37

Perkiomen Valley 18 15 12 12 – 57

North Penn: Ahmaar Godhania 1 3 3-4 14; Tre Simpson 2 0 2-4 6; Corey Meade 1 0 2-4 4; Norman Gee 0 1 0-0 3; Lee Hammond 0 1 0-0 3; JC Wood 0 1 0-0 3; Gabe Altemus 1 0 0-0 2; David Onyeanusi 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 6 6 7-12 37.

Perkiomen Valley Julian Sadler 7 2 6-6 26; Jakob Harken 5 0 3-6 13; Josh Tagert 3 0 0-0 6; Sean Wagoner 1 1 1-2 6; Kyle Shawaluk 2 0 0-0 4; Ryan Murphy 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 19 3 10-14 57.

Spring-Ford 52, Dock Mennonite 36 >> Spring-Ford took a 34-32 lead into the fourth then proceeded to outscore Dock Mennonite 18-4 to claim its third straight win Saturday.

Matt Zollers had a game-high 12 points for the Rams (6-3, 3-0 PAC, 2-0 PAC Liberty) while Tommy Kelly scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half.

Robbie Sukaley’s nine points led Dock (6-3, 5-0 BAL Presidents), which had its two-game win streak stopped.

Owen J. Roberts 60, Pennridge 44 >> Luke Fryer knocked down five 3-pointers in going off for 33 points and Owen J. Roberts pulled away in the fourth quarter to win the non-league contest.

Charlie Rising scored 15 points to pace Pennridge (2-7, 2-4 SOL Colonial) with Rownan Smith adding seven points.

Colin King collected 11 points for OJR (4-5, 0-3 PAC, 0-2 PAC Liberty), which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Wildcats led 17-16 at halftime and 32-30 at the end of the third before outsourcing the Rams 28-14 in the fourth.

Girls Basketball

Central Bucks South 57, Methacton 43 >> Central Bucks South took a 29-19 lead into halftime and extended its advantage to 46-32 as the Titans went on to earn a non-league victory.

Yoyo Samayoa scored a team-high 15 points for South (5-4, 3-3 SOL Colonial) while Jules Tropea finished with 13 points.

Abby Arnold recorded a double-double for Methacton (0-7, 0-2 PAC, 0-1 PAC Liberty) with a game-best 21 points and 10 rebounds.

After taking an inbounds in the backcourt with 9.3 seconds remaining, the junior guard eluded one Plymouth Whitemarsh defender with an in-and-out dribble, got by another with a crossover then drained a jumper near the right elbow before the buzzer.

“My coaches, they been telling me since I’ve been a freshman, stop shooting so many threes,” Hutson said. “And closing the half, so I got in the paint and just seen it open it, rise up and shoot the ball so that’s what I did.”

Hutson’s last-second bucket capped a six-point burst by the Panthers, putting them up 34-20 at halftime of the SOL crossover contest.

Cheltenham’s lead never dipped into single digits in the second half, the home side’s defensive pressure never letting the Colonials get comfortable on the offensive end as the Panthers claimed a 61-48 victory.

“Coming into the game it was just energy and effort,” Hutson said. “We a young team, we got to come in here with a lot of effort and show people from what happened last year, that’s really it.”

Hutson provided plenty of substance on both ends of the court to help Cheltenham extend its winning streak to seven. He spent time defending fellow All-SOL guard Jaden Colzie – the PW senior a Liberty Division second team pick last season, Hutson a first team Freedom selection – and finished his 13-point effort with a pair of three-point plays in the third quarter.

“Definitely motivate me to play hard and show the crowd that I can be one of them guards,” Hutson said. “It was a privilege to play at my school and be able to show the fans that I’m one of them.”

Along with Hutson, Cheltenham (8-1, 6-0 SOL Freedom) had four players score in double figures. Kevin Addison collected 10 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth. Osei Johnson hit a trio of 3-pointers in adding 12 points with Nile Tinsley posting 11 points.

“(Plymouth Whitemarsh) came in, I don’t know, top 10, they’ll finish top 10 in our district, maybe top five so for us it’s just very big that we do stay consistent with energy,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “All for one – obviously our biggest theme is togetherness, community, unity, things of that nature, then commitment to just to defend regardless of what the outcome is on offense is just to stay locked in and defend and then just share the ball.”

Colzie had 10 points before halftime and ended with a team-high 14 for Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-3, 4-2 SOL Liberty), which lost its second straight. The Colonials were held under 50 points for the first time since falling to Cheltenham 52-40 in the 2022 District 1-6A quarterfinals.

“Right now we are a really complex thousand piece puzzle that at times will look like you got the way to put it together and then next thing you know wrong pieces, wrong places,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “So the kids have to be patient with themselves while at the same time be honest with themselves cause they’re going also through the idea that this isn’t as easy people may have told ‘em it was.”

Tuesday at Wissahickon, the Colonials were shutout 12-0 in the first quarter and trailed 31-10 at halftime before mounting a second-half charge that came up short in a 61-53 defeat.

PW never led Friday, Cheltenham jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead after a Tinsley basket. Consecutive threes from Ben Marsico and Colzie made it 9-6 but that was the closest the Colonials got.

“The key was to get them uncomfortable, take shots that they normally don’t take,” Hutson said. “And that’s what we basically did.”

The Panthers led 19-11 after opening eight minutes. Colzie began the second quarter with four straight points to make it 19-15 but Cheltenham answered with a 9-0 run, Johnson draining a 3-pointer to push the margin to 28-15.

“You start off 4-1 with the potential of 5-0 and you don’t quite understand that, one, if you’re in our uniform and you’ve had a whole lot of success in Suburban One, you’re not sneaking up on anybody,” Donofrio said. “Everyone’s going to be very excited to play with confidence against you. We have to start to understand that a lot better. There’s a whole lot that the kids have to grow up with but I’ve been through these type of years before. Last year we were 27-2 and a 15-win team (Chambersburg) knocked us out of the state tournament.

“It’s funny how a sports season mimics life, that how do you maintain your edge whether you’re a multi-millionaire or struggling? How do you maintain your confidence, how do you maintain just a level of focus? So we’re going through all that now. Lot of mistakes, lot of mistakes that make no sense.”

PW finishes December with two games at the Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University – taking on West Chester Henderson 1:15 p.m. Thursday then facing Unionville 7:45 p.m. Saturday.

Cheltenham next plays Friday, Jan. 5 when it visits Abington.

“Going into the break now we got a lock in on the little things – turnovers, bad shots and watching the clock and fouls and making free throws, that’s a big thing,” Hutson said. “So I guess going into break there’s going to be a lot of work that we going to be doing and show the world that we one of them teams.”

After reaching the PIAA-6A quarterfinals in 2021-22, Cheltenham ended last season 12-11, falling to Upper Darby in the first round of districts. Hutson is set on helping guide the Panthers to another deep postseason run.

“This year it’s mainly being a leader,” he said. “My ninth grade year I had a bunch of leaders, last year I was sort of learning, I was real young and I went through a lot of things during the summer that taught me how to be a leader.”

A Colzie 3-pointer and Michael Pereira’s basket inside had the Colonials within 28-20 in the second quarter but Johnson hit a three then connect on the first of two free throws with 23.9 seconds left to make it 32-20.

A PW turnover gave Cheltenham another possession with 9.3 seconds and Hutson took advantage, connecting on his jumper for a 14-point edge at intermission.

“The biggest thing about him that we was most impressed about was just his commitment to stay poised during all the moments,” said Fleury of Hutson. “And then just being a presence on the glass to stop runs and close out possessions.”

Colzie started the third with a trey but Hutson collected a three-point play at 6:45 to put the Panthers back up 14 at 37-23.

A Tinsley triple had Cheltenham leading 40-24 before baskets from Pereira and Marsico had PW down 12. Hutson, however, converted a three-point play at 2:48, putting the Panthers ahead 43-28.

The Colonials’ Jah Pendergrass-Sayles was fouled on a three with 0.9 seconds left in the third and hit the first two free throws, cutting Cheltenham’s lead to 47-34.

But PW could only get its deficit down to 12 in the fourth – Mani Sajid’s 3-pointer making it 55-43 before the Panthers scored six straight for their biggest advantage of the night.

Cheltenham 61, Plymouth Whitemarsh 48
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11 9 14 14 – 48
Cheltenham 19 15 13 14 – 61
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Jaden Colzie 2 3 1-4 14; Michael Pereira 4 0 1-1 9; Jah Pendergrass-Sayles 2 0 3-5 7; Ben Marsico 1 1 0-0 5; Terron Davis 1 0 2-2 4; Mani Sajid 1 1 0-0 5; Josh DeJesus 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 13 5 7-12 48.
Cheltenham: Kevin Addison 8 1 0-0 19; Josiah Hutson 5 0 3-4 13; Osei Johnson 1 3 1-2 12; Nile Tinsley 4 1 0-0 11; Kamal Mason 2 0 0-3 4; Salim Kelly 1 0 0-0 2; Korey Wyatt 0 0 0-2 0; Totals 21 5 4-11 61.

It has been a tough slog early in the season for the Springfield Township Spartans.

Against Upper Dublin, one of the top teams in the area, Springfield had trouble getting out of the gate.

Forcing turnovers and knocking down shot after shot, the high-flying Upper Dublin Cardinals blitzed Springfield (Montco) 79-39 in an SOL crossover meeting at home Friday night.

Ryan Mulroy scored 18 points for the Cardinals (7-2, 5-1 SOL Liberty), who are in first place in their division, and Brady Fogle had 15.

Because of a 30-point mercy rule, the second half had a running clock as Upper Dublin — which led by 15 after the first quarter and 54-24 at halftime — bounced back from a tough, six-point road loss to West Chester Henderson the previous night.

“We just wanted to come out hard and put the game away quickly, because we didn’t come out with as much effort the game before,” Fogle said. “We wanted to press and pick up the pace.”

All of Fogle’s scoring came on 3-pointers, including three in the opening period.

“My teammates were giving me open looks, so I just shot it,” he said.

Upper Dublin was 7-for-15 (46.6 percent) from beyond the arc and 20-for-38 (52.6 percent) from 2-point range.

James Castronuovo and Anthony Oliveira-Schultze added seven points apiece for UD.

“We wanted to have a good closing before the break here,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks said. “Top to bottom, every guy had great energy, focus, effort, execution. So, I’m very happy with tonight.”

Before losing to Henderson, the Cardinals beat Hatboro-Horsham by 20, but Brooks didn’t feel it was a crisp win.

“There are so many ups and downs, not just with teenagers, it’s coaches too,” Brooks said. “There’s a lot of mental coaching. The season’s long, there’s fatigue. You’ve got to do the best you can, you have to come up with different techniques to keep them focused. It was good to see the guys do that tonight.

“Tonight, we talked about habits,” he said. “Habits aren’t something you build by taking a day off, or two days. It’s every day you have to put in the effort.”

A bright spot for Springfield (1-7, 1-5 SOL Freedom) was junior Bob Hartman, who scored a game-high 19 points.

“He’s been really solid,” Springfield coach Rob Fusaro said. “He comes every day and brings the scoring for us. His consistency has been really good. His mid-range is good, as well as at the rim, threes. He’s a tough kid.”

Brandon Thompson added six points and Chase Murphy finished with five for the Spartans, who don’t have a senior on the team. Springfield’s roster is made up of seven juniors, three sophomores and a freshman.

“We wanted to come out and just try to control what we could control,” Fusaro said. “We wanted to do the little things, finish layups, just be consistent. We have a young group, so we’re just trying to move forward and get them prepared.”

“We basically just said in the locker room, this is a whole journey,” he said. “It’s not just one game. You learn different things, we try different things. Our bench was really good, and we had to remind them of that. Whether you’re down 30, down 40, or down five, we have to have the same consistency of energy and respect for your teammates and coming at the other team.

The Cardinals used their height advantage to dominate the glass, outrebounding Springfield 34-13. They also forced 15 Spartans turnovers.

“We’ve done a lot of good things so far, but it’s just the start,” Fogle said. “We have bigger goals. We want to get to the district playoffs and try to win the district championship. So we have to get better each day.

“I think the district is wide open,” he said. “I think we can beat any team in our district.”

——

Upper Dublin 79, Springfield (Montco) 39

Springfield                 15        9          5          10        —        39
Upper Dublin             30        24        13        12        —        79

Springfield: Bob Hartman 5 2 3-5 19, Brandon Thompson 0 2 0-0 6, Chase Murphy 1 1 0-0 5, Aiden Hood 1 0 2-2 4, Harry Bates 1 0 1-1 3, Will McLaughlin 1 0 0-0 2, Julian Ciasullo 0 0 0-2 0. Totals: 9-28 5-10 6-10 39.

Upper Dublin: Ryan Mulroy 8 0 2-2 18, Brady Fogle 0 5 0-0 15, James Castronuovo 1 1 2-2 7, Anthony Oliveira-Schultze 2 1 0-0 7, Kobe Bazemore 2 0 2-2 6, Noah Cohen 2 0 0-0 4,Justin Ragsdale 2 0 0-0 4, Chris Kohlbrenner 1 0 0-0 2, Max Grunfeld 1 0 0-0 2, Nate Rigberg 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 20-38 7-15 6-6 67.

Rebounds: Springfield 13, Upper Dublin 34.

Turnovers: Springfield 15, Upper Dublin 7.

Records: Springfield (1-7, 1-5 SOL Freedom), Upper Dublin (6-2, 5-1 SOL Liberty).

——

Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc.

Now, well, let’s just say they hug it out a couple of times a week, even while Slay is rehabbing a surgically repaired knee that has bothered him all season.

“He’s a great dude,” Slay said. “I just don’t take disrespect crazy. Where I’m from, that doesn’t go. But for him to come to me as a man, apologize, and I know I gave my peace to him as well. When two men do that, you just put the differences aside and go to work.”

Slay is out indefinitely after having his knee scoped. He said he needed the procedure for a while but played through it.

“Finally, Advil ain’t working anymore,” Slay said. “(Surgery) was best for me at this point and the team. I’ve been playing on probably like 30 percent of a leg for two years.”

Slay isn’t on injured reserve and hasn’t ruled out returning before the end of the season. He had similar procedures in 2013 and 2019.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Slay said. “But like I said I am feeling good. I’m progressing in the right direction. We’ll see how it goes.”

What bothers Slay almost as much as the knee is the way defensive coordinator Sean Desai was stripped of the play calling.

“I feel as players, I feel it’s our fault,” Slay said. “We failed him. And that’s the sad part about it because I don’t like to see a man get demoted because of performance. But this is a production business, and we weren’t productive for him. I feel like we all had a hand in that.”

The shortened offseason following the Super Bowl run and the personnel turnover in the secondary, including the failure to re-sign safeties Marcus Epps and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, set the Eagles back. Ditto for learning a new defense under Desai and an injury to nickel back Avonte Maddox, who practiced fully Friday.

It’s early but Slay sees the light at the end of the tunnel. Already he notices subtle differences in the way the Eagles’ secondary is playing with Patricia directing it.

“I could see on film a lot of guys are playing a lot faster, smarter, and with more understanding,” Slay said. “Guys just are knowing their role and embracing it.”

If there ever was a time for the Eagles (10-4) to embrace the challenge ahead, it’s on Christmas Day when they oppose the New York Giants (5-9) at Lincoln Financial Field. Judging by the SeatGeek emails, there are some bargain tickets available.

If Slay’s hunch is right, Coach P will make a difference.

“I know one thing about him as a coach,” Slay said. “He wants to win.”

• • •

In addition to Slay, wide receiver DeVonta Smith (knee), left guard Landon Dickerson (thumb) and linebackers Nicholas Morrow (abdomen) and Zach Cunningham (knee) did not practice Friday.

It was the second straight practice Smith missed. Morrow is hopeful of playing Monday but isn’t sure. Maddox (pectoral muscle) says he’s day to day.

The good news is right guard Cam Jurgens (pectoral) is back at work, freeing Sua Opeta to move to left guard to replace Dickerson.

• • •

Among the Giants held out of practice Friday were defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (hamstring) and offensive tackle Evan Neal (ankle), their two top players up front.

Tight end Lawrence Cager (groin) and defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (knee) also sat out. Cornerback Xavien McKinney (illness) was limited along with running back Matt Breida (hamstring), defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson (back), linebacker Carter Coughlin (neck) and punter Jamie Gillan (groin).

• • •

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown at least temporarily has ditched expressing his frustrations with critics on social media in the name of his team leadership.

“Honestly, that was, like I just stated, me personally, I didn’t handle that correctly,” Brown said. “And I’m man enough to say that. I pride myself on being the best. When the game is on the line, throw me the ball. So, when things don’t go my way, it’s OK, sure, put the blame on me. I accept that. Much is given, much is required. So, I had to sit down and really think to myself, like, ‘Yeah, if they do put the blame on me, sure, I asked for that. I asked to be in that chair.’”

• • •

Tua Tagovailoa leads the fan voting for the Pro Bowl with 175,772 votes. Christian McCaffrey (131,108) is second, with San Francisco teammate Brock Purdy third and George Kittle fifth. Rookie C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans is fourth.

Eagles players rank among the top five clubs in votes received, with center Jason Kelce and safety Reed Blankenship leading the NFC vote getters at their positions.

The fan voting concludes on Christmas. It’s supposed to count for one-third of the process, with coaches and players’ votes counting one-third each.

“We have been really putting a lot of pressure on JJ at practice with free throws,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “And yesterday I said we’re not going to stop running until JJ  makes two – and it took him a while. And he finally made two and maybe that helped tonight.”

With 20.3 seconds remaining and the Ghosts holding just a 53-52 lead, the host Golden Bears came up empty on a pair of free throws. Lee grabbed the rebound, was fouled and proceeded to knock down both from the stripe, putting Abington up three with 18.1 ticks left.

“I just kept my composure,” Lee said. “And knew I was going to knock them down.”

Upper Moreland got a chance to tie but a 3-pointer from the right corner was long and Aaron Jones’ free throw with 5.6 seconds finished off a 56-52 Abington victory that saw the Ghosts erase a 10-point third quarter deficit to extend their winning streak to four.

“I just told ‘em that we got to start playing better defense,” Marsh said. “I felt like we were getting outworked, especially on the boards. And they played really well and you could tell that they really wanted to win, so I’m like you guys got to dig in, get one possession at the time, get one stop at a time, one score at a time and get ourselves back into this game.”

Lee finished 4-of-5 from the foul line as he matched Jones for the team high with 13 points. Paul Glants added 12 points for the Ghosts (8-2, 4-2 SOL Liberty).

“We need games like this so we learn how to finish because we’ve been in a couple situations where we haven’t,” Marsh said. “Now we had to come back from being behind which I’m really proud of ‘em but yeah it was basically just it’s pride time, we got to dig in and get some stops.”

Colson Campbell scored 13 of his game-best 20 points in the second half for Upper Moreland (6-4, 4-2 SOL Freedom) while Anthony Carson chipped in 12 points.

“I feel like every game’s going to be this way, so it’s just a matter of learning from this experience and growing and staying together,” Upper Moreland coach Dan Heiland said. “And that’s all you can do at this point, you can’t change the outcome so you got to move on, you got to learn from it and we just got to get better and continue to stay together as a group.”

UM capped the second quarter with a 16-1 run to take a 27-20 lead into halftime. The Golden Bears pushed their advantage to 39-29 after a Campbell three but the Ghosts scored 12 of the third quarter’s last 14 points – a Jon Roberts basket sending the game to the fourth even at 41.

Jaden Flournoy’s breakaway dunk had Abington up 43-41 before Campbell scored on an inbounds then made two free throws for a 45-43 UM lead. But Abington collected the next six points, Flournoy driving for a basket with Jones banking in a runner then draining a 3-pointer to have the Ghosts leading 50-45.

“We were matching the speed and the pace that they were trying to play at, I thought at moments of the game and as you mentioned I thought we did a good job on it,” Heiland said. “It did benefit us at times, and then at other times we just again we’re just too careless with the ball in certain moments. And they seemed to be critical moments of the game and you can’t do that down the stretch when it’s a tight one and every possession matters.”

The Golden Bears responded with five straight points – Larry Hughes’ basket off an offensive rebound knotting things at 50. Lee, however, had Abington back ahead as he drove in from the right wing, scored and drew a foul, converting the three-point play to make it 53-50 at 2:46.

“I saw that the guy was coming up, he was trying to double,” Lee said. “So went between him and then this other guy trying to help and I knew he was going to foul me.”

Campbell connected on two from the line to cut the margin to 53-52 with 1:01 left. The Bears got the ball back after an Abington travel at 34.8 seconds and Nate Best drew a foul on a drive at 20.3 seconds but could not get either foul shot to fall. Lee collected the rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws for a 53-50 edge.

The Bears looked for the tie but Sean Murphy’s corner three effort was off target and Jones corralled a loose ball and was fouled with 5.6 seconds remaining. Jones connected on the second of two from the line to put Abington up four – the final margin after Best missed a last-second three try from the right wing.

Upper Moreland finishes the 2023 portion of its schedule at the Upper Dublin tournament Dec. 27-28. Abington visits Chester on Friday, Dec. 29.

“I’m looking forward to finishing December strong,” Marsh said. “We had a lot of games, we got tested, I think we got to find out a lot about ourselves. And we still have a lot of work to do obviously if we want to play at an elite level but we’re getting there. And I’m proud of ‘em and again, they responded tonight.”

Abington led 13-11 after the first quarter. Lee started the second quarter with five straight points while a Xander Grasty free throw had the Ghosts up 19-11 with 6:36 left in the half.

Upper Moreland, however, scored the next seven – two Jimmy Perce foul shots at 3:35 making it 18-18.  A Khalid Jenkins free throw 15 seconds later ended up being the Ghosts’ final point of the half.

Campbell hit a three to give UM a 21-20 lead with the Bears adding six more points before intermission, Hughes getting a contested layup to fall in, putting the home side up 27-20.

“I think it was Colson Campbell and Anthony Carson were doing a good job of handling the pressure they were applying in the first half and we were knocking down shots, we were making the extra pass and guys were finishing around the rim in the first half,” Heiland said. “I think that was really the difference in the game, the second half we just weren’t finishing enough, we didn’t make enough winning plays and down the stretch making free throws are obviously critical and we had our chances and we just came up short unfortunately.”

After a Carson jumper to start the third, Abington got within six twice – the second time at 33-27 on a Roberts basket – but the Bears stretched the lead to 10 at 39-29 on a three from Campbell.

A Campbell bucket had UM leading 41-33 but the Ghosts’ defensive pressure began paying off as they scored the quarter’s last eight points to pull level at 41.

Abington 56, Upper Moreland 52

Abington: Aaron Jones 3 2 1-2 13; Jeremiah Lee 3 1 4-5 13; Paul Glants 4 1 1-1 12; Jaden Flournoy 3 0 2-5 8; Jon Roberts 3 0-0 6; Damon Rawls 1 0 0-0 2; Xander Grasty 0 0 1-2 1; Khalid Jenkins 0 0 1-2 1; Totals 17 4 10-17 56.

Upper Moreland: Colson Campbell 4 2 6-6 20; Anthony Carson 3 2 0-0 12; Larry Hughes 3 0-0 6; Brayden Martin 2 0 2-4 6; Alex Best 2 0 0-0 4; Sean Murphy 0 0 2-2 2; Jimmy Perce 0 0 2-2 2; Nate Best 0 0 0-2 0; Totals 14 4 12-16 52.

Lansdale Catholic 60, Bethlehem Catholic 23 >> Olivia Boccella was locked in from long range Thursday, connecting on eight 3-pointers in scoring 26 points as Lansdale Catholic cruised to a road non-league victory.

Grace McDonough added 17 points for the Crusaders (6-0) while Sanyiah Littlejohn had 11 points.

Pope John Paul II 44, Methacton 43 >> Sophie Vigliotta buried six 3-pointers in finishing with a game-best 26 points as Pope John Paul II edged visiting Methacton for a PAC win.

Rylee Derecola and Grace Fitzgerald each had six points for the Golden Panthers (4-3, 2-1 PAC, 1-1 PAC Frontier), who led 26-20 at halftime before Methacton pulled even at 31 at the end of the third quarter.

Abby Arnold hit four 3s in scoring 25 points for the Warriors (0-6, 0-2, 0-2 PAC Liberty).

North Penn 62, Pennsbury 51 >> North Penn picked up a home SOL crossover win to improve to 5-2 (5-1 SOL Colonial).

Abington 55, Upper Moreland 27 >> Mikiaya Durham collected 15 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals as Abington earned a fourth straight win rolling past Upper Moreland.

Piper McGinley posted 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Ghosts (7-2, 5-1 SOL Liberty) while Maya Johnson had seven assists, four rebounds and three steals.

For Upper Moreland (6-3, 3-2 SOL Freedom), the loss snapped its four-game win streak.

Council Rock South 48, Central Bucks East 15 >> Fiona Reckner finished with 13 points as Council Rock South handed Central Bucks East its first loss.

Liliana Metrick and Cam Gregory each scored 11 points for South (6-3, 4-2 SOL Patriot). East dropped to 6-1 (5-1 SOL Colonial).

Boys Basketball

Methacton 72, Pope John Paul II 62 >> Christian Matos scored a game-high 25 points as host Methacton claimed a PAC victory.

Sal Iemmello finished with 16 points, Alex Hermann had 13 points and Mason Conrad chipped in 10 points for the Warriors (5-2, 3-0 PAC, 2-0 PAC Liberty), who led 20-11 after a quarter then 38-27 at halftime.

Braden scored 15 points to pace Pope John Paul II (2-6, 0-3, 0-2 PAC Frontier). Jason Green had 13 points with Dom Demito contributing 10 points.

Dock Mennonite 54, The Christian Academy 35 >> Robb Sukaley’s 14 points paced Dock Mennonite as it stayed undefeated in BAL play.

AJ Washington added 12 points while Tony Martin led the defensive effort for the Pioneers (6-2, 5-0 BAL Presidents), who were up 23-16 at halftime and extended the advantage to 35-24 after three quarters.

Bensalem 76, Souderton 75 (OT) >> Souderton’s Bill Sackor scored 22 points as the Indians were edged in overtime by visiting Bensalem in the SOL crossover.

Nolan Watkins posted 15 points for Souderton (5-4, 3-3 SOL Colonial) while Clinton Kikonjo added 12 points. The Owls (6-1, 6-0 SOL Patriot) won their second straight.

Central Bucks East 70, Council Rock South 65 (OT) >> Jacob Cummiskey scored six of his game-high 27 points in overtime and also finished with six rebounds and three assists as Central Bucks East outlasted host Council Rock South to remain undefeated.

South’s Ryan Wekluk forced OT with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that tied the SOL crossover at 54.

Dhruv Mukund had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for East (8-0, 6-0 SOL Colonial). Tyler Dandrea scored 11 points while Justin DiRoberto recorded 10 points and three steals.

Timmy Rahill’s 21 points led CR South (5-3, 4-2 SOL Patriot), which had a four-game win streak snapped. Wekluk had 14 points with Timmy Rahill and Gabe Cerulli both adding 13 points.

Upper Merion 58, Boyertown 45 >> Josh Nguyen had 10 of his 14 points in the third quarter as Upper Merion outscored Boyertown 24-11 in the period after the team were tied at 22 at halftime.

Nick Smiley scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half for the Vikings (5-4, 2-1 PAC, 1-1 PAC Frontier). Allen Cole collected 10 points.

Jack Greaves finished with 16 points for Boyertown (5-3, 1-2, 1-1 PAC Liberty) with Trey Kern registering 12 points.

Pennsbury 56, North Penn 40 >> North Penn (4-5, 3-3 SOL Colonial) lost its second straight while Pennsbury (5-4, 3-3 SOL Patriot) broke a four-game skid.

West Chester Henderson 59, Upper Dublin 53 >> Upper Dublin’s loss in the non-league road contest dropped the Cardinals to 5-2 (4-1 SOL Liberty).

Bullis School (Md.) 79, Germantown Academy 45 >> Tyler Nolan hit four 3-pointers in pacing Germantown Academy with 14 points as the Patriots lost their second straight.

Ellis Johnson and Bryce Rollerson both had nine points for GA (4-5).

Adrien Stevens made five 3s in scoring a game-high 21 points for Bullis School, which led 40-16 at halftime. Eric Reibe knocked down four treys in adding 20 points with Caden Diggs and Jewel Waker each finishing with 10 points.

Girls Swimming

Hatboro-Horsham 96, Souderton 90 >> Megan Luddecke and Sarah Parker both won two individual events as the Hatters topped Souderton in the SOL non-division meet.

Luddecke earned first in the 200 individual medley (2:15.57) and 100 back (1:02.04) and also swam on the winning 400 free relay (3:41.32). Parker had top times in the 50 free (24.06) and 100 fly (58.31) and was on HH’s first place 200 free relay (1:39.90).

Souderton got wins from Anna Stauffer in the 500 free (5:32.29), Jessica Burns in the 100 breast (1:04.77) and Allysa Gehman in diving (198. 40 points).

Boys Swimming

Souderton 108, Hatboro-Horsham 58 >> Souderton’s Ryan Christie claimed first-place finishes in both the 200 free (1:51.42) and 100 fly (53.90) as the Indians won the SOL non-division meet.

Also for Souderton, Elijah Gehamn was first in the 200 individual medley (2:06.41), Gian Carlo Bocchino won the 100 free (50.38) and Abraham Bleazard took first in the 100 back (58.25).

Hatboro-Horsham’s Spencer Alderson had victories in both the 50 free (22.25) and 500 free (5:15.92).