Henry rises to stage as Abington tops Pennridge in District 1-6A semifinals

PHILADELPHIA >> Everywhere Sean Yoder went Tuesday night, Maurice Henry matched him step-for-step.

Play any team three times and at some point, adjustments have to be made so Abington decided to make one on the defensive end. Henry knew he’d have to play at a different level all night guarding one of the best players in District 1 and it translated into his best overall game of the year.

The senior gave the No. 1 Ghosts a needed spark as they topped No. 4 Pennridge in the District 1-6A semifinals at Temple’s Liacouras Center and advanced to their third straight district title game.

“I had to play harder than I normally do and I had to step up for the team,” Henry said. “I had to sacrifice my body for the team and play as hard as I could to stay in front of him. He’s their whole team, you limit him and it’s hard for them to go.”

Not only was Henry stellar defensively, shadowing Yoder off every screen and cut and limiting the Navy recruit to 11 points, he had a terrific offensive game with 15 points. Facing yet another zone defense, the Ghosts were moving the ball around to try and stretch out Pennridge’s 2-3 but also passing up some looks.

When Yoder hit a 3-pointer in the second quarter, cutting Abington’s lead to 19-16 with 3:02 left in the first half, Henry stepped up. The guard splashed a three in response, kicking off a 12-2 Abington run to close the half and he had two assists to end the quarter with the latter an alley-oop to Lucas Monroe

“At this point of the season, it’s not about the X’s and O’s, it’s about who wants it more and Maurice was by far the game MVP,” Monroe, who led Abington with 16 points, said. “He completely took them out of their offense because they couldn’t get Yoder going.”

In the team’s first two meetings this season, Monroe had guarded Yoder but Abington coach Charles Grasty felt Henry’s speed would give the Rams’ all-time leading scoring something else to think about.

“He was coming off screens and Maurice was right there, bringing the ball up, he was making (Yoder) turn and expending a lot of energy he normally wouldn’t have to,” Monroe said. “We played harder and came out with more energy. Normally, we’re a second half team but I thought we came out and punched first.”

Playing on the stage at Temple is a different experience in itself but it’s one the Ghosts (26-1) are used to with Tuesday being their fourth trip to the Liacouras Center in the past three seasons. Pennridge on the other hand, was on Broad Street for the first time.

While the Pennridge crowd was great, the Rams still had some of those first-time jitters.

“Listen, it was awesome and what a great experience,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “It didn’t turn out the way we would have liked it but I thanked them for letting me coach here because without our players and the success we had, I wouldn’t be coaching on Temple’s floor.

“We turned the ball over too much, we got within three and I was thinking we were settled in and then we had some bad turnovers that led to run-outs.”

The Rams (23-4) struggled for most of the game on the offensive end, shooting 15-of-44 in the game but they got on a bit of a roll in the third quarter. After Abington went up 33-18, Pennridge went on an 8-0 run to make it a seven-point game.

Manir Waller helped stop the run with a pair of key buckets, the second an emphatic putback dunk off a Henry miss that gave Abington a 36-28 lead going to the final frame.

“I felt like we were confident coming in, we played them three times and the second time we had them on the ropes,” Behrens said. “The one thing they have over us is they have more experience playing down here. I think we were a little bit in awe of the environment and a little starstruck.”

Grasty has long been a believer the best way to beat a zone is to beat it down the floor. With Monroe and Eric Dixon feasting on the glass, Abington had plenty of chances. The Ghosts also had the right guy running the floor off those rebounds in Henry.

“He’s one of the fastest kids in the states so if he could make (Yoder) take tough shots and just always be around him and he did a wonderful job,” Grasty said of Henry. “What I was taught was the best way to beat a zone is defend and beat it up the court and I thought we did a pretty good job. Eric rebounded his tail off, made some great outlet passes to our guards, Maurice was on the end of a few and Lucas caught a few alley-oops.”

Dixon, who was held to a season-low nine points and didn’t score in the second half, had 10 rebounds and threw a few beautiful outlet passes to Henry. The last one found the senior guard alone down the floor, with Henry faking his way past a defender and converting the layup for a 43-28 lead.

“Normally we hit ahead really well so when Lucas or Eric gets a rebound me or the other guards try to get an easy fast break,” Henry said. “I don’t do track or anything, I just condition really well. They just know, if they get the rebound, I’m going.”

Pennridge faces Lower Merion in the third-place game Friday night at the Aces’ gym. The teams met in last year’s district quarterfinals with Lower Merion winning but all Behrens was concerned about was getting his guys ready for a game that still has meaning.

“We didn’t attack the ball, we were watching and I thought that’s where we were in awe of this,” Behrens said. “I’m not down on the boys, I’m proud of the season and we’re going to compete Friday night. They’re going to keep score, so that means we’re going to compete.”

Abington faces Coatesville, a 71-66 winner over Lower Merion, in Saturday’s District 1 title game. The teams met for the 2017 title, with Abington topping the Red Raiders at Villanova that season.

The Ghosts are also going for their third straight district title and it’s not something they’re taking lightly.

“It doesn’t get old,” Monroe said. “We have bigger goals that winning just a district championship, we want to go all the way to the end of March and win a state championship. But, it’s always fun, the whole town comes out, everyone’s already talking about it, they’re all going to be excited about the game.”

Abington 50, Pennridge 38
Abington 17 15 6 13 – 50
Pennridge 11 7 10 10 – 38
Abington Manir Waller 4 0-1 8, Maurice Henry 6 1-2 15, Darius Brown 0 2-2 2, Lucas Monroe 5 6-6 16, Eric Dixon 3 2-2 9. Totals 18 11-13 50.
Pennridge: Luke Yoder 0 2-2 2, Jon Dominic 2 0-0 4, Sean Yoder 4 2-2 11, Trent Fisher 2 0-0 4, Jon Post 3 0-2 6, Jack Gillespie 2 0-0 5, Christian Guldin 0 2-2 2, Connor Pleibel 1 0-0 2, Paul Croyle 1 0-0 2. 15 6-8 38.
3-pointers: A – Henry 2, Dixon; S Yoder, Gillespie.