Cheltenham handles adversity to edge Abington in double OT

CHELTENHAM >> After being rooted to the bench most of the second half Monday night after fouling out, Jaelen McGlone intended to finish Tuesday night on the floor.

The Cheltenham senior did just that, playing almost every second of the Panthers’ double-overtime thriller against archrival Abington and for emphasis, swatted a 3-point jumper later in the second extra period. In a game that summed up everything about the two teams, both had to dig down, rally late and overcome some mistakes to keep playing into the night.

When it mattered, the Panthers came up with just a couple more plays to pick up a 71-65 win to finish the first half of SOL American play alone atop the conference.

“This is all about bragging rights, this was the craziest game of the year,” McGlone said. “Everybody comes out, it’s always fun to play in.

“Last night I got fouled out in the beginning of the third, so I’m sitting on the bench the whole third and fourth, so I was ready to play.”

Handling adverse situations, like blowing a late lead and giving up a buzzer-beating putback to force overtime or being down two scores midway through the first extra session, isn’t anything new to the Panthers (13-2, 7-0 SOL American). Coach Patrick Fleury has dubbed “adversity” the theme of the season, noting it started opening night when senior point guard Zahree Harrison went down with a knee injury that is going to cost the St. Francis (Pa.) recruit his season.

Cheltenham has adapted and forged its identity behind its defense, a defense that proved to be the decisive factor in Tuesday’s outcome.

Abington’s (6-6, 5-2 SOL American) no stranger to adversity this season either after replacing all but one starter from last year’s district title team. Turnovers have plagued the Ghosts at inopportune times throughout the first half of the campaign and Cheltenham made them pay heavily for their 26 giveaways on Tuesday.

“They crushed us,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “We’re turning the ball over at the wrong time, well, all game today, but you have to give Cheltenham credit for what they did, they pressured us and forced us to turn the ball over. Like the I told the guys in there, I like our fight, we don’t give up and let’s keep fighting.”

McGlone, the Rider recruit, looked eager to make up for the time he missed in Monday’s loss to Malvern Prep as part of a Play-By-Play Classic event at West Chester. The senior had eight points in a game-opening 12-5 Panthers run that included two 3-point shots and a steal and slam dunk in the first four minutes.

He finished the first quarter with 10 of his game-high 24 points but Abington had calmed down and closed within 18-14 on a late bucket by Rob Bell to end the quarter, a recurring plot device later in the night.

Cheltenham sophomore Justin Moore had a quiet first half with just five points but he would finish the night with 17 including four in the second overtime.

“We came out and played hard, started a little slow but we turned it up,” Moore said. “We stuck together and overcame adversity in the fourth quarter and overtime to get the win.”

Moore dished to McGlone for a 28-23 lead but Abington closed on a 7-0 run capped by Oreck Frazier’s buzzer-beating putback at the halftime horn to give the Ghosts a 30-28 lead. Cheltenham returned to the front foot through most of the third frame, but again had a couple breakdowns late that helped Abington.

Antonie Ellis hit a pretty gutsy shot, pulling up for three in transition and a numbers advantage to pull Abington within 44-43, then after Sean Emfinger scored, Ghosts senior Manir Waller scored two straight that included a steal and layup with two seconds left that sent the visitors to the final frame up 47-46.

“We just fought,” Grasty said. “We executed a little better down the line, they missed some shots, we were able to get the rebounds. Their pressure caused us to turn the ball in some keys spots, gave them some easy runouts and you can’t give them the ball that many times. You need those possessions against a good team like this.”

After seizing the momentum at the end of the third, Abington wilted a bit to start the fourth with three turnovers and losing the ball off a tie-up under its own offensive basket in the first three minutes.

“The guys realized that at this point, we have to be a defensive team, we can score the ball but the focus has to be defense,” Fleury said. “It’s a game of runs and momentum, there were a couple things we could have done better but a couple things that could have gone our way or their way ended up going our way.”

Mike McClain, who had a strong game for the Panthers, put Cheltenham up 55-47 on a corner three with 2:56 in regulation off a kick from Moore, who had seven assists and five steals.

Abington didn’t fold, scored a couple baskets and took advantage of the Panthers’ inability to close the game out at the line. Waller, who led the Ghosts with 17 points, scored with about five seconds left on a second chance score to get within 56-55 before the Ghosts fouled McGlone with 2.7 left.

McGlone, who added 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, split at the line, making the second and giving Abington a chance to inbound. Oreck Frazier threw a long pass down the floor that got tipped but fell to Caleb Baker under the hoop.

Baker missed the layup, but the junior forward was able to tip it back in at the buzzer to tie the game 57-57 and force overtime. Fleury took most of the blame for the final play, saying it’s something he’ll look at and adjust going forward.

“The adversity is something we’re used to,” Fleury said. “Zahree is getting surgery next week, so it becomes real at that point, not that it hasn’t this whole time. We didn’t play our best basketball today but making sure of homecourt is really important.

“When we did make mistakes, we made sure we fought back and were able to convert opportunities when we were able.”

With half the gym in celebration and the other half in shock, the guy who’s taken Harrison’s role as point guard brought his team in.

“In the huddle, I grabbed everybody and said let’s lock in and let’s execute,” Moore said. “We did that, we came out in overtime, played well and got the win.

“The energy in the gym is different, there’s a lot of fans and you just don’t want to let anybody down. We had to be smart, poised and humble and that’s what we did as a team.”

 Abington went up 61-57 with 1:13 left in overtime, but McClain came to the rescue by working the glass for a putback to cut the lead in half then slicing into the right spot to turn a dish from Moore into the tying hoop for the last of his 15 points. Cheltenham’s defense helped out, tipping an inbound pass in the final seconds that forced a rushed long shot for Abington that fell short.

Moore scored the go-ahead bucket a minute into the second overtime and McGlone made it a four-point lead with 2:10 to go. Freshman Saleem Payne, who missed a couple foul shots in the fourth quarter, made up for it with two key makes at the line with 34 seconds left, then scored the dagger when the Panthers got a steal and found Payne for a run-ahead layup with 17.5 to play.

“We have a lot of length on defense, we’re active on the ball and everybody plays defense,” McGlone said. “Everybody is ready to get down and keep grinding. Our coach calmed us down, everybody was really hyped, everybody in the gym was screaming, but we came together as a team and we focused on each other.”

Fleury also cited the play of Travis Coleman as a spark off the bench Tuesday night.

The teams will meet again in February to conclude the SOL American schedule. While it doesn’t seem that far off, there is plenty of season left before then and both teams hope to be better for the return leg in Abington’s gym.

“Our guys are resilient, we have a lot of fight,” Grasty said. “That’s what we’re going to do, keep fighting. We’re 6-6 but our season is far from over and we’ll see if we can make a run at this.”

“We don’t take any team light,” Moore said. “Our goal has to be go in, win the game and get out of there no matter who we play. We’re just looking to stay together as a team.”

CHELTENNAHM 71, ABINGTON 65 (2OT)
CHELTENHAM 18 10 18 11 4 10 – 71
ABINGTON 14 16 17 10 4 4 – 65
C: Justin Moore 5 7-10 17, Jaelen McGlone 9 4-6 24, Mike McClain 7 0-0 15, Sean Emfinger 3 0-0 6, Saleem Payne 1 3-5 5, Travis Coleman 2 0-1 4. Totals: 27 14-22 71
A: Manir Waller 8 2-5 18, Oreck Frazier 4 1-2 9, Robert Bell 7 0-0 14, Joey Brusha 2 0-0 6, Caleb Baker 3 0-0 7, Antoine Ellis 2 0-0 6, Connor Fields 1 3-4 5. Totals: 27 6-11 65
3-pointers: C – McGlone 2, McClain; A – Brusha 2, Ellis 2, Baker