Upper Dublin closes strong against Abington

ABINGTON >> Upper Dublin’s 12-point halftime lead was trimmed to four at the end of the third quarter when Abington’s Fhenyx Scutt hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

That’s as close as the game would get.

The Cardinals got timely baskets on offense, clutch turnovers on defense and hit enough free throws to pull away from the Ghosts late for a 59-49 Suburban One League Liberty Division win at Abington Senior High School Friday night.

“We did a pretty good job defensively,” Upper Dublin’s Seaton Kukla said of the final eight minutes. “We got a lot of steals. Going down the stretch we were going to the free-throw line, they were fouling. We weren’t making all of them (9-for-17), which wasn’t great, but going to the free-throw line really shut the door.”

“We were able to handle their pressure,” Upper Dublin coach Chris Monahan said. “They’re very fast and we took care of the ball. We got good shots. We missed a lot of free throws tonight, but for the most part down the stretch we were pretty solid in that area.”

Colin O’Sullivan scored seven points in the fourth quarter while Kukla added six for Upper Dublin to maintain a muti-possession lead for the entire fourth quarter.

“We came against a really good team at a bad time,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “They played well and we didn’t. We didn’t play well. We missed a lot of rotations, we missed a lot of shots. When you’re playing a team like that you can’t make a lot of mistakes and we did.”

The Cardinals (13-4, 9-2 SOL Liberty) built their lead in the second quarter. Abington center Derrius Lucas picked up his third foul with Upper Dublin ahead, 18-17. The Cardinals finished the half on a 14-2 run, including an 11-0 stretch after Lucas went to the bench, to head to halftime with a 29-17 lead.

“(Lucas) was definitely a player we were talking about going into the game,” Kukla said. “We wanted to take him out of the game and that’s exactly what we did. We got a lot of fouls. We really talked about guarding him, especially on ball-screens and stuff like that. It was big for him to get in foul trouble.”

“(Lucas) is a great shot-blocker,” Monahan said, “and just a presence. If he’s not blocking your shot, he’s altering your shot. We were able to get into the paint with him out of the game and they were fouling because we were getting into the paint. It was a big part.”

The Ghosts (9-7, 8-4 SOL Liberty) got back into the game when they won the third quarter, 17-9. Scutt hit two threes, including the buzzer beater, for six points in the quarter while Connor Fields scored five and Lucas added four.

Kukla led the Cardinals with a game-high 17 points. O’Sullivan, who put Upper Dublin ahead for good with a three-pointer to break the 15-all tie, added 14 and Ellis Johnson had 13.

Lucas led the Ghosts with 15 points while Fields and Scutt each added 12.

After Lucas gave Abington a 2-0 lead, the host’s only lead of the game, early on, Kukla scored seven straight points to start a 12-0 Upper Dublin run. Scutt hit a three to end the first quarter with UD ahead, 12-5. Abington used an 11-1 run to tie the game at 13 early in the second quarter.

Abington was without senior Kahjel Morris, who scored 17 points against Plymouth Whitemarsh Thursday night. Morris banged his knee at the end of the PW game. 

Upper Dublin 59, Abington 49
Upper Dublin 12 17 9 21 – 59
Abington 5 12 17 15 – 49
Upper Dublin: Cerisier 2 1-4 5, Lee 0 0-0 0, Kohlbrenner 1 1-5 4, M Pensabene 0 0-0 0, O’Sullivan 4 5-8 14, Fechter 0 1-2 1, Fogel 0 1-2 1, G Pensabene 1 2-2 4, Zamborsky 0 0-0 0, Johnson 5 3-4 13, Kukla 6 4-5 17, Wells 0 0-0 0. Total 19 18-32 59.
Abington: Rawls 0 0-0 0, Fields 4 4-45 12, Scutt 4 0-0 12, Dorman 0 0-0 0, Lee 1 2-2 4, Louis-Benjamin 0 0-0 0, Marino 1 0-0 2, Glants 0 0-0 0, Lucas 5 4-8 14, Scholly 2 0-0 5, Rardin 0 0-0 0, Moynihan 0 0-0 0. Total 17 10-17 49.
3-point goals: UD: Kohlbrenner, O’Sullivan. AB: Scutt 4, Scholly.