Abington shuts down Souderton in 4th, advances to District 1-6A quarters
FRANCONIA >> Kassondra Brown rushed into the Souderton passing lane, getting her hands on the basketball and in effect swatting it over to teammate Britney James.
Another defensive stop soon followed, James calmly sank two pressure-packed free throws with a minute and 13 seconds to play, and high-flying Abington buckled down and won with defense Wednesday night, stifling Souderton in the fourth quarter for a 44-36 District 1-6A second-round win.
“We had to find a way to win a low-scoring game, which we don’t wanna do — we wanna win 73-60,” said Ghosts coach Dan Marsh, who said he was more nervous for this game than any other in his 13 years at Abington. “Hats off to Souderton. They were back every time, they did not let us break. They handled our pressure well.
“I’m proud of all of ‘em,” Marsh said of his squad, the No. 9 seed coming in and will now head to North Penn Saturday in the quarterfinals. “It was a complete team effort and they did a good job defensively. We’re playing with house money now. I feel great.”
Abington went into the fourth down 32-31 but shut out Big Red in the fourth until just 33 seconds remained.
Leading up to that, Tamia Wessles’ baseline drive put Abington ahead for good, 33-32, Jordyn Allen hit one of two foul shots and Brown battled inside for a basket and a 36-32 advantage with 2 minutes, 30 seconds to play.
James’ two free throws with 1:13 left made it 38-32 and Wessles hit one of two to make it a seven-point margin. Big Red’s Megan Walbrandt banked in a three to slice it to 39-35 with 33 seconds left, but free throws by Elizabeth O’Leary locked it up for Abington.
“I feel like we had a lot more energy (in the second half) because we were really trying to get after it,” James said. “I think (winning a close one) is a big confidence boost for most of us because I think some people came in thinking we were gonna lose, so to get this win and know we’re going to states is a big confidence boost for a lot of us.”
James scored a team-high 11 points and helped the Ghosts navigate rough going in the fourth.
“Just running the team for us and then making some big free throws,” Marsh said of her performance, “and running what we needed to run.”
In a first half that saw eight lead changes, Abington went to the locker room leading 19-17.
The Ghosts found something inside with Brown, and back-to-back baskets by Jordyn Allen and James pushed the Ghosts ahead 15-11 midway through the second quarter.
Souderton drew closer by working the ball around and finding an open Erica Stephens for a baseline jumper, making it 17-15, but again Abington pounded it inside and O’Leary did the work this time, extending the Ghosts’ lead to 19-15. A bucket by Souderton’s Tori Dowd made it a two-point game at the break.
No. 8 Big Red began the second quarter quickly, a three by Walbrandt falling through clean and splashing Souderton into the lead, but a 6-for-13 performance from the line for Big Red made it difficult to maintain consistency in the first half.
In a game of defense, Abington’s squeezed tighter down the stretch.
“If you would have told me that O’Leary and Brown would combine for 13 points, I would have guaranteed a win,” said Big Red coach Lynn Carroll, whose team can still make states through playbacks. “But Britney James really stepped up for them. They shot well from the foul line and we did not.
“We’re fortunate where we put ourselves in a position where we’re already into double elimination. Tomorrow we’ll find a way to get over this one, get back at it and get ready for Spring-Ford.”
Top Photo: Souderton’s Tori Dowd (Souderton) gets fouled by Abington’s Sam Brusha as Dowd goes up for a shot during their District 1-6A second round game on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017.
