Pottsgrove downed by reigning champs Abington Heights

SCRANTON >> As Manny Clark exited the Pottsgrove locker room Friday night at Scranton High School, his little brother Bryce trailed right behind.

The Falcons fell to the defending state champions Abington Heights, 72-48, on Friday night in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament. The Comets will continue their title defense against Mastery North on Tuesday.

For Pottsgrove, Friday’s loss marked the end of a season that included a Pioneer Athletic Conference playoff experience, a District 1-5A semifinal appearance, and the first state playoff game for the program in nine years.

Despite the defeat, Clark was able to explain how special this season has been, not just for this group, but for future players like his brother, who is headed to the high school next year.

“In our area, basketball is not a priority,” Clark said. “Football is our priority sport. I feel like us playing really well basketball-wise and getting this far put us on the map. For the younger guys that are playing, they’re going to see that even though people didn’t think we were going to make it, you can achieve anything through hard work.”

Pottsgrove (15-13), which was representing District 1 as the fourth seed, embraced an underdog role during the District 1-5A tournament, which led to wins over Great Valley and Holy Ghost Prep in their first two district games. The Falcons once again relished in the fact that they were being overlooked heading into Friday’s game against the District 12 champion Abington Heights (24-2).

“We’re the type of team that’s like we don’t fear anybody,” Clark said. “We know that they were the defending champs, and that just made us even more excited to play them. It’s fun being the underdog.”

Pottsgrove jumped out to an early lead before the Comets grabbed a 16-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Falcons kept Abington Heights within striking distance in the second quarter as well, heading into the half trailing, 35-26.

Senior forward Khaliym Smith scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. Clark finished behind Smith with 17 points in the game.

“I think how we came out in the first quarter, first half showed that our preparation was spot on,” Pottsgrove head coach Jack Flanagan said. “I would have preferred to have the lead at halftime, but it was a back-and-forth basketball game, which is what you like to see.”

Though Pottsgrove hung tight throughout the first half and the early part of the third quarter, the size and skill of the Comets proved too much.

Abington Heights turned a nine-point advantage at the 4:33 mark in the third quarter into a 61-38 lead three minutes into the fourth with a 19-5 run.

The Comets finished 30-for-46 from the floor and tallied 20 assists on Friday night. Senior guard Trey Koehler finished with 24 points to lead the way. Binghamton recruit George Tinsley, a 6-5 forward, scored 19 points, while junior guard Corey Perkins added 12 points.

“We knew coming out of halftime, we had to slow it down, get into our stuff,” Tinsley said. “As you saw, it worked. Everybody was on tonight. We were rebounding. We were giving out assists.”

Led by its nine seniors, the Falcons built off their district first round exit last season, advancing to the district semifinals and making their first state appearance since 2010.

Clark said the team took pleasure in proving wrong those who doubted how far this team could go when it began the season.

“A lot of people didn’t think we were going to make it here,” Clark said. “People in our school, people in our district. Nobody thought we were going to make it this far, and we did. It’s a blessing to be here.”

The next several Pottsgrove teams will have a tough task matching the accomplishments of this group.

Along with Clark and Smith, two first team All-PAC Frontier selections, and senior guard Justin Robinson, a third team selection, the Falcons also depart Jimai Springfield, Cameron Mowery, Gabe Applebach, Ryan Bodolus, Jay Sisko and Laree Hills. Junior Evan White and sophomores Luke Kaiser and Nicholas Stringer will be the only ones returning who saw significant action this season.

Clark said this year’s quad laid down a path to follow for future Falcons like his little brother. Flanagan concurred that the players from this year’s team have raised the bar for the program in years to come.

“They’re the ones that established this standard,” Flanagan said of his seniors. “Other programs talk about rules or expectations. We just talked about standards. The standards we try to live up to every day in practice and throughout the season. At the end of that season, they established the standard of make your league playoffs and then get to that state tournament.”