Abington tops Perk Valley in District 1-6A fifth place playback game
ABINGTON >> No team wants to find itself in a District 1 playback bracket.
While there is a use for the series of games bridging a team being knocked out of the district title hunt and the start of the PIAA tournament, players aren’t usually thinking about potential matchups or paths through the state bracket. That leads to games that don’t always have the most energy or enthusiasm about them, which is just how Abington started its last leg of the playback chain.
It wasn’t pretty, but Abington found enough energy to top visiting Perk Valley 54-45 on Friday to wrap up the fifth seed out of District 1-6A.
“We just didn’t have enough energy tonight,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “We’re a very flawed team when we don’t play the way we want to play and that’s what we did. When we don’t have enough energy, that’s when people get open and if everyone’s not doing their job, our scramble defense doesn’t work.”
After his team lost to Pennsbury in the district quarterfinals, Marsh tried to tell the players there was value in winning out in playbacks and getting the fifth seed from District 1. The Ghosts were able to grind out a win over Haverford in their first playback game but just didn’t have the energy to start on Friday, falling behind 6-0 to the Vikings.
A timeout by Marsh led to a 7-0 Abington run, but it was a back-and-forth first half that PV led most of until the hosts went on a 9-2 spree to close out for a 24-22 halftime edge. The Ghosts’ defense was giving up too much and only three players had scored at the break, which meant it was either time to pick up the energy or drop a game going into states.
“We weren’t into the game as much as we should have been,” Ghosts forward Jaida Helm said. “I think we may have taken them lightly but in the second half like came out with energy like we should have. We came in kind of lazy and needed to pick it up.”
The state tournament is new territory for both teams. While Abington is used to playing late into the season, aside from injured senior Khalis Whiting, none of the current Ghosts have played a state game.
On the other side, it’s a brand new experience for all the Vikings. Even though they lost Friday, senior Emma Miley noted it was good learning experience for her freshman-heavy team to play a team with such an aggressive and physical defense as Abington’s before heading into the PIAA playoffs.
“We haven’t seen a lot of teams that press as much as they do and especially with how quick they are, we tend to get a little frazzled when we see that so it was good to get the experience now,” Miley said. “I think if we can learn to adjust faster going forward, we’ll get a lot better. Each game is a learning experience, we come out of each one with something new to take into the next game.”
When the Ghosts are lacking energy, they can always go to their bench. The team may not have a lot of size but it does have a lot of depth and on Friday, sophomore Piper McGinley was a spark of energy on both ends with nine second half points.
McGinley, along with Maura Day, Jordyn Reynolds and Krysten Brown, gave Abington a lift that the starters seemed to pick up on. Junior Abril Bowser, who scored seven of her 10 points after halftime, even lost a tooth diving for a loose ball in the third quarter.
A standout soccer forward, McGinley has been known more for her defense so far with the Ghosts but isn’t afraid to shoot when open. Abington needed it on Friday, with her second-chance three off an assist by Dani Brusha staking the hosts to a 44-37 lead with 5:51 to play and snapping an 8-0 Perk Valley run.
“I’m not going to hesitate,” McGinley said. “I’ll keep shooting and eventually they’re going to fall, like they did tonight. I want to get some momentum for our team, especially if we have a slow start like we did tonight, just to pick it up and help them out.”
Helm finished with a game-high 17 and recorded another double-double with 14 rebounds but it was her defense in the second half that helped get Abington on track. The 5-foot-11 junior matched up frequently with PV’s skilled 6-foot-2 freshman Quinn Boettinger, holding the Vikings’ post threat to seven points and challenging all her shots around the rim.
“I felt like if I just stayed straight up, I know for me, if I have a smaller person on me, it’s harder if they stay straight up so I just did what’s difficult for me to go against,” Helm said.
Instead of falling apart once Abington’s scramble defense started doing its thing and forcing turnovers leading to a scoring run, Perk Valley just kept pushing. A three by Emma Miley cut the lead to 50-45 with 56 seconds left and the Vikings even forced a turnover after that but weren’t able to convert it into points before Abington broke the other way for a Bowser layup.
Marsh complimented the Vikings for their fight as well and added he wouldn’t be surprised to see Perk Valley string a couple wins together to get to the second week of states.
The tenacity was a sign to Miley that her team will be fine if it finds itself in a challenging spot sometime during its state playoff debut next week.
“The last game we had, we got down but battled back and ended up winning, so it’s something we’re capable of and know how to do,” Miley said. “I think this team has a lot of grit to get back in games. Maybe we shouldn’t be doing that in the first place, but we’re always going to fight our way back.”
For both teams, the stakes change starting on Tuesday when it’s one-and-done the rest of the way. The Ghosts and the Vikings will get the weekend to regroup, take at a look at their first round opponent and get back to work with a little more at stake.
“We have to keep our energy up, not underestimate anybody and continue to play good defense,” McGinley said. “If we do that, the offense will come.”
ABINGTON 10 14 17 13 – 54
PERKIOMEN VALLEY 11 11 11 12 – 45
A: Cire Worley 4 6-7 6, Abril Bowser 4 1-3 10, Jaida Helm 7 3-4 17, Maya Johnson 1 0-1 2, Piper McGinley 3 0-0 9. Totals: 19 10-15 54
PV: Bella Bacani 1 0-0 3, Jennifer Beattie 5 0-0 12, Emma Miley 5 2-4 13, Grace Miley 3 0-0 6, Quinn Boettinger 2 3-3 7, Lena Stein 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 5-7 45
3-pointers; A – McGinley 3, Worley 2, Bowser 3; PV – Beattie 2, Bacani, E Miley
