Abington finds the energy to top Upper Dublin
UPPER DUBLIN >> Manir Waller and Rob Bell were tired after a long week, but they knew they could dig down for a little bit more.
After an at-times ugly first half Friday night, the Abington duo found a last well of energy to spark a defensive surge in the third quarter at Upper Dublin. Led by Waller and Bell and a ramped-up defense, the Ghosts boys’ basketball team built enough of an edge to finish off an unbeaten week.
New-look Abington stayed unbeaten in the SOL American with a hard-earned 50-44 road win over the Cardinals.
“We started slow in the first half so that second group had to get us going a little bit, really turn us on,” Bell, who led Abington with 15 points, said. “We started getting pumped up and taking it back.”
“We had to get back to our game,” Waller, who had 14, said. “We were playing to their style and not focusing on what we do. At the start of the second half, the coaches told us to come out with some intensity, play defense and once we get it going on the defensive end, everything would come through on the offensive end.”
This isn’t the Abington of the past few years. Lucas Monroe (Penn) and Eric Dixon (Villanova) headlined a mass exodus of graduated seniors, including two other starters in Maurice Henry and Darious Brown, leaving Waller as the only real experienced player on the roster.
It’s also a blank page for this group to write its own script on the season and what type of team it will be. So far, the chapters are spelling out a defensively motivated bunch that brings a lot of fight to the floor.
Abington coach Charles Grasty, who picked up his 200th win in the Ghosts’ overtime win against Central Bucks East on Wednesday, knew his guys were up against it Friday. Having already played Upper Moreland and East this week and having used a lot of players for significant minutes, Grasty wanted to see if his squad would dig down again.
“Give Upper Dublin, they were prepared, they didn’t quit, they’re scrappy and there’s a lot of fight on that side,” Grasty said. “I told the guys we’ll take it and we’ll learn from it. We played well a couple games this week, didn’t play as well tonight but we’ll watch film and learn from it.”
It took more than three minutes for the first score and both teams slogged through the first quarter. Abington (4-1, 3-0 SOL American) which went 12 deep in the first eight minutes, went up 14-6 on a putback by Connor Fields as part of an energetic seven point game off the bench.
Upper Dublin (3-3, 1-2), which got a lift from the return of senior guard Jason Williams, used a mix of its defense, Abington’s foul trouble and junior center Drew Stover to get back in the game. Bazel Brady’s steal and layup kicked off a 10-2 run over the final 3:51 of the half and took the teams to the back knotted 16-16.
“They were trying to give us opportunities and we didn’t take advantage,” UD coach Chris Monahan said. “The first half was not aesthetically pleasing so we get into the locker room and say that was rough but it’s essentially 0-0 so let’s settle down and play.”
Stover, in what’s becoming a trend this winter, had another big night with a game-best 22 points. However, he didn’t get a ton of help offensively with only three Cardinals players hitting a shot from the floor and Brady the only other UD player with more than one make.
The bigger issue was the team’s turnovers in the third quarter. Upper Dublin gave the ball away eight times in the frame with the trio of Bell, Waller and Kyle Wilson-Brady combining for five steals.
“I feel like it’s Groundhog Day a little bit, here we are again playing too fast for ourselves, not taking what the defense is giving you and going where the defense wants you to,” Monahan said. “We’re making poor decisions that way and sometimes, our shot selection is almost a turnover. We’re taking rushed shots that we’re not comfortable taking or making and the third quarter is a good example of all that.”
Bell’s swipe and score capped a 7-0 run to start the half, giving Abington a 23-16 lead it wouldn’t look back from.
“It’s just you wanting to get the ball back,” Bell said. “As a defender, you can see when someone’s getting a little sloppy with ball-handling, you pounce on it, get the ball back and get the score.”
“Coach told us at the beginning of the season he wanted us to be a scrappy, physical team,” Waller said. “We want that to be our identity for this season. We always try to play hard, get it on the defensive end first and the offense will get itself right.”
Waller scored eight points in the third and keyed a 10-0 run that pushed Abington’s advantage out to 35-18. The senior started the run with a layup, fed Bell for a hoop-and-harm, scored on an and-one of his own and finished a pass from Wilson-Brady off a swipe to get things going.
Bell’s night followed the team’s path. The junior didn’t score in the first half, had six in the third and hit 7-of-8 at the foul line in the fourth quarter to help the Ghosts hold off Upper Dublin’s late push.
Much like Waller and Bell keyed Abington’s third, Brady was the catalyst in the fourth. The senior scored seven of his 11 points in the stanza and also assisted three buckets to Stover as the Cardinals put up 23 points in the period.
UD will play in Great Valley’s holiday tournament next weekend while Abington will take part in the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic, facing Archbishop Carroll next Friday at Jefferson and MLK next Saturday at Widener.
“We’re learning, there are going to be nights like this where we have to find our energy from somewhere within,” Grasty said. “I like where we are. We don’t want to be playing our best basketball right now. We just want to learn from it.”
ABINGTON 50, UPPER DUBLIN 44
ABINGTON 8 8 17 17 – 50
UPPER DUBLIN 6 10 5 23 – 44
Abington: Manir Waller 6 2-5 14, Robert Bell 4 7-11 15, Joey Brusha 1 0-0 3, Caleb Baker 1 0-1 2, Sam McFarlane 1 0-2 3, Connor Fields 3 1-2 7, Karim Boyd 1 0-0 2, Kyle Wilson-Brady 2 0-1 4. Totals: 19 10-23 50.
Upper Dublin: Jason Williams 0 4-4 4, Bazel Brady 5 1-3 11, Drew Stover 11 0-2 22, Will Mead 1 1-4 3, Amare Johnson 0 1-2 1, Tim Boutilier 0 2-2 2, Liam Roberts 0 1-2 1, Aidan Pullian 0 0-2 0. Totals: 17 10-20 44.
3-pointers: A – Brusha, McFarlane.
