Miscues, misses add up as Abington falls to Math, Civics and Sciences
CHESTER >> There were a couple notable times Saturday evening where not matter how much Abington was doing right, the ball wasn’t going in the basket.
Whether it was a 2-of-12 start to the game or a couple missed buckets right at the rim in the midst of a 9-0 Math, Civics and Sciences run in the third quarter, they started to add up. Despite all that, the Ghosts were right in the game until the final few minutes but couldn’t overcome the total combination of misses and miscues.
Abington’s gutty effort fell short in a 66-54 setback to the Mighty Elephants as part of the Pete and Jameer Nelson Play-By-Play Classics event at Widener.
“We definitely got ourselves into a hole,” Ghosts coach Charles Grasty said. “Once we settled in, we were able to make a nice run and tie it up, took a lead and they came back to tie it up. We were much more relaxed in the second quarter but this is some of the ups and downs we’re going to have as an inexperienced team.”
Oreck Frazier hit the first shot of the game to give Abington a 2-0 lead. The Ghosts wouldn’t score again until Caleb Baker beat the first quarter buzzer on a 3-point shot after Abington missed 10 straight shots and four free throws in the quarter.
MC&S, a perennial power in the Philadelphia Public League and defending PIAA 2A champion, deserves plenty of credit too. The Mighty Elephants brought strong guards and athletic forwards to Widener and they used their full-court 3-2 defense very, very well throughout.
“We want to see what type of fight we have and what we’re going to do if we don’t make shots early,” Grasty said. “The last two games, they didn’t give up and that’s a good sign.”
Abington, which was coming off a loss to Archbishop Carroll on Friday, let its defense make up for the cold start offensively. The Ghosts kept Math Civics and Sciences from getting into the up-and-down transition game its defense can cause and Abington forced a lot of difficult jumpers in the first half.
It would be the Ghosts’ defense that got Abington back in the game. Abington got stops and finally got some shots to drop, with a trey from Baker kicking off a 8-2 run that put the Ghosts ahead 21-20 on Kyle Wilson-Brady’s foul shot. Karim Boyd, on a steal and score, tied the game 20-20.
“Our guys gave the effort the needed,” Grasty said. “We got back on defense. We’re just still making some mistakes at times that are costing us.”
MC&S got payback for Baker’s buzzer-beater at the half. Niaeem Edwards hit a half-court shot so pure it hit nothing but net at the horn, knotting the game 25-25.
Tvon Jones hit a trey with 7:14 left in the third to kick off the Elephants’ 9-0 run that would force Abington to chase the rest of the way. While MC&S did its part by scoring, the Ghosts hurt themselves with two turnovers and two missed layup attempts that could have limited the damage during the run.
A 6-2 spurt to close the quarter put the Mighty Elephants ahead 46-38 going into the fourth and just as important was the emergence of Nisine Poplar. The talented wing had been held to just four points in the first half, but made a determined effort to not settle for difficult jumpers and attack the rim and scored 14 in the second half.
Abington finishes its holiday stretch back at Widener on Monday against La Salle and it’s the type of games Grasty has never shied away from.
“It’s some of the things we need to clean up and minimize those runs, but we’re fighting and we’ll get it,” Grasty said. “Every time we have a chance to play really good teams, we’ll play them. We have a motto at Abington since we’ve been here that we’ll play anybody, anywhere.”
Abington showed its fight and stayed within a couple possessions for most of the final quarter, getting within 56-50 on Robert Bell’s three with 1:57 left and 54-40 on Sam McFarlane’s hoop with 49 seconds to go. Ultimately, the Ghosts had to start fouling and the Mighty Elephants closed well at the line to stretch the lead out.
Grasty noted no team wants to play its best in December and his hope is this slate of games will pay off when SOL American play resumes, with the Ghosts visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh on Jan. 3.
“We have one guy with experience, a couple guys that played a little bit last year but for most of them, it’s a great experience,” Grasty said. “It’s early enough in the season we can learn from it, we can sit back, get some pizza, watch some film and see what we have to do better.”
MATH, CIVICS AND SCIENCES 12 13 21 20 – 66
ABINGTON 5 20 13 16 – 54
MCS: Marcus Middleton 4 3-5 11, Niaeem Edwards 1 0-0 3, Nisine Poplar 7 6-7 20, Tvon Jones 5 1-1 12, Naadhir Wood 5 4-8 14, Tayshon Nixon 0 2-4 2, Hymid Snead 1 0-0 2, Nadir Barron 1 0-0 2, Jeff King III 0 0-2 0. Totals: 24 16-27 66
A: Manir Waller 3 2-7 8, Oreck Frazier 3 2-2 8, Robert Bell 2 2-2 7, Joey Brusha 1 0-0 3, Caleb Baker 3 1-1 9, Connor Fields 0 0-2 0, Sam McFarlane 3 1-2 8, Karim Boyd 2 0-0 4, Antoine Ellis 1 0-0 2, Yashawn Watts 1 0-0 2, Kyle Wilson-Brady 1 1-2 3. Totals: 20 9-18 54
3-pointers: MCS – Edwards, Jones; A – Baker 2, Bell, Brusha, McFarlane
