Abington holds off Wissahickon
ABINGTON >> Abington’s defense showed what it could do early in its Suburban One League Liberty Division game against Wissahickon Friday night. The Ghosts held the Trojans to just four total points across the second half of the second quarter and the entire third quarter.
After Wissahickon got back within one possession midway through the fourth, the Abington defense needed to step up again.
And it did.
The Ghosts held the Trojans to one point over the final three-and-a-half minutes and picked up their first win of the season, 43-36, at Abington Senior High School.
“I thought our seniors, our leadership, helped us out,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “We buckled down, got some stops, played disciplined defense, didn’t miss too many assignments. If you miss an assignment against a team that can shoot like (Wissahickon), you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
“Our rotations,” Abington senior Connor Fields credited for the game-winning defense, “knowing when to trap, when to pick up man, when to put up the wall. We work on it in practice a lot, just getting there and our rotations.”
The Ghosts made enough free throws to close out the game on a 5-1 run.
Josh Twersky and Morgan Wilson each had five points early in the fourth quarter and Earl Stout added two as the Trojans went on a 12-6 run over the first four-and-a-half minutes of the final frame to cut a 32-23 deficit to 38-35.
Abington (1-2, 1-1 SOL Liberty) built its lead in the middle two quarters. After trailing 19-10 midway through the second quarter, the Ghosts rattled off a 22-4 run through the end of the third quarter.
“The two in-between quarters we just went cold,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “We got shots, we got looks, we just couldn’t knock them down. Momentum went in their favor and they just held onto it, continuing to gradually build that lead. I told our guys I wasn’t upset with them. We played hard, we fought hard, it wasn’t like we were making a lot of careless turnovers. We gave as good as we got. They just made more plays. Here at home, they’re 0-2, these type of wins don’t come easy. If we were 0-2 we’d be fighting to not lose. They did what they needed to at home. It was an impressive win for them.”
Fields did most of the Ghosts damage in the second quarter, scoring 11 of his game-high 13 points.
“(Fields) is a leader on the court and off the court,” Grasty said. “He knows he has to step up for us. He’s the only returning starter that we have – we lost four starters. He knows he has to step up and that doesn’t just mean scoring points. He’s doing everything for us. He’s a leader for us – first one to practice, works hard. He knows what he needs to do.”
Abington finished the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 21-19 lead into halftime.
Jeremiah Lee and Fhenyx Scutt each added five points for the Ghosts in the third quarter. Scutt hit a corner three-pointer at the end of the quarter to send Abington to the fourth ahead, 32-23.
“I just want to give credit to Jimmy Marino and Jeremiah Lee,” Fields said. “They came out, they played hard and they gave us energy. I think once they started playing hard it sparked all of us and we came out and played hard together.”
Lee joined Fields in double figures with 10 points.
Wilson led Wissahickon (2-2, 1-1 SOL Liberty) with 10 points and Twersky added nine.
Abington 43, Wissahickon 36
Wissahickon 10 9 4 13 – 36
Abington 5 16 11 11 – 43
W: Lassiter 0 0-0 0, Twersky 3 2-4 9, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Williams 3 0-0 6, Wilson 4 2-3 10, Dias 0 0-0 0, Vacchiano 2 0-0 5, Stout 3 0-0 6. Total 15 4-7 36.
A: Rawls 0 0-0 0, Fields 5 2-5 13, Scutt 1 3-4 6, Glants 0 0-0 0, Marino 2 1-2 7, Young 0 0-0 0, Lee 3 2-2 10, Lucas 2 1-4 5, Morris 1 0-1 2, Rardin 0 0-0 0. Total 14 9-18 43.
3-point goals: W: Twersky, Vacchiano. A: Fields, Scutt, Marino 2,Lee 2.
