Post power leads Abington past cold-shooting CB West, into District 1-6A final
BENSALEM >> Kassondra Brown and Lizzie O’Leary don’t have a catchy nickname just yet.
One they might consider is also an apt description of what the two Abington forwards present on the floor. Simply put, the two 6-foot-2 post players are trouble for whoever is going up against them.
O’Leary is the veteran senior while Brown, a sophomore, has brought out the beast this postseason. Wednesday night, they led the Ghosts to a 55-48 win over CB West in the District 1-6A semifinals, sending Abington to Saturday’s final at Villanova.
“I feel like it’s every night we have an advantage,” Brown said. “We’re just trouble.”
Brown, when she was on the floor, was downright unstoppable. The sophomore scored 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and ate up the Bucks on the glass with 17 rebounds. Foul trouble hampered Brown all game and she did eventually foul out, but otherwise, she imposed her will on the game.
O’Leary had a lot of shot attempts she’d like a do-over on, but the Delaware recruit still scored 12 points, pulled down 15 rebounds of her own and for good measure, stuffed five shots.
It wasn’t just the two of them, as Sam Brusha dropped in 16 points of her own, mixing her outside shooting with her improved slashing game. Brusha and Brown both got it going in the second quarter with Abington pouring in 23 points during the frame to flip a 13-8 West lead into a 31-24 Ghost advantage at the break.
“Kassondra was a beat,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “If we could have kept her out of trouble, we probably could have extended the lead a little bit. Sam, she’s really developed her game where last year she was a stand-still shooter and now if you run at her, she’s going by you.”
The Bucks got off to a good start thanks to some marksman shooting from senior Alex Burkauskas. She hit four 3-pointers in the game for a team-high 14 points, which begins to tell the story of West’s night. Led by two first quarter treys from the senior, West took a 13-8 lead after eight minutes.
For the rest of the night, nobody in black, yellow and white could seem to hit a shot with any consistency. The Bucks all had an off night on the same night, shooting 15-of-57 from the floor with usually reliable shooters like Maddie Burke, Tori Abelson and Maggie Rakowsky missing attempts they more often than not knock down.
GIRLS BASKETBALL: @LadyGhostsBB Lizzie O’Leary finds Cam Lexow for 3, 41-33 Q4 lead on CB West pic.twitter.com/A5zquwFxp6
— Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3) March 2, 2017
Abelson had 12 for CB West but was 4-of-15 while Burke was 1-of-8 from the field. Despite that, they stayed in the game.
“We tried to stop their bigs and (Brusha) and I thought we did a pretty good job to start but what hurt us was we didn’t make shots,” Bucks coach Terry Rakowsky said.
“After playing good defense for 25, 30 seconds, they’d take a shot, miss it, the ball hits the floor and they get it back. At this level, against good teams all those little things add up.”
Abington completed quite a remarkable road to get to the district final. From a 4-3 start in December that prompted Marsh to ask his assistant coaches if the playoffs were even possible to beating No. 8 Souderton, No. 1 North Penn and No. 5 CB West in its last three district games, it was the most satisfying of the three runs to the championship game he’s been a part of.
The Ghosts won a district title in 2010 and lost to CB West in 2015. For the second time in three years, it will be a Ghost doubleheader, with Abington’s boys qualifying the night before.
“It’s the greatest feeling right now,” O’Leary said. “Our boys team is playing there as well, we did it two years ago but a lot of this team didn’t get to experience that. So having them be able to experience this is just amazing.”
While Brown, O’Leary and Brusha did the bulk of the scoring, Abington got some major contributions from its other players. Point guard Britney James handled CB West’s pressure when she wasn’t in foul trouble and when the junior was, Tamia Wessels stepped in ready to go.
Cam Lexow, the sophomore soccer standout turned defensive ace, was also a key component of the game. Lexow had seven points and 10 rebounds, covering everyone from Burke to Rakowsky to Abelson and making things happen on both ends of the floor.
West made a couple of runs in the second half, but every time Brown or Brusha came up with a big basket to slow the roll down. Once the Ghosts took the lead at 23-20 on a Brusha trey, they never trailed again.
“It’s been intense,” O’Leary said. “Our energy levels have been off the charts in practice lately. Our play now as opposed to December is so different. We have a different mindset now, we want to push the ball because that’s where we’re strong.”
Abington will face Plymouth Whitemarsh at the Pavilion at 6pm on Saturday.
“We went in 2010 and won, had to beat No. 1 Cheltenham to do it, we lost to CB West in 2015 and we’re back this year and this is by far, the most satisfying,” Marsh said. “This group has just worked from Day 1 to get here and I couldn’t be any more proud.”
Abington 55, Central Bucks West 48
Abington 8 23 15 9 – 55
Central Bucks West 13 11 17 7 – 48
Abington: Britney James 0 1-2 1, Cam Lexow 3 0-0 7, Lizzie O’Leary 4 4-6 12, Kassondra Brown 8 0-0 16, Sam Brusha 6 1-1 16, Tamia Wessels 1 1-3 3. Nonscoring: Miranda Liebtag. Totals: 22 7-12 55.
Central Bucks West: Alex Burkauskas 5 0-0 14, Maddie Burke 1 2-4 4, Tori Abelson 4 4-12, Izzy Treon 0 3-4 3, Maggie Rakowsky 3 4-5 10, Diane Nicholson 1 1-2 3, Bailey Tracy 1 0-0 2. Nonscoring: Spratt, Carey, Rodebaugh. Totals: 15 14-19 48.
3-pointers: A – Brusha 3, Lexow; CBW – Burkauskas 4.
Bob Raines–Digital First Media
Maddie Burke (Central Bucks West) battles Camryn Lexo (Abington) for a loose ball Mar. 1, 2017.
