Johnson keeping Abington on point with Whiting’s support

UPPER DUBLIN >> The Abington girls basketball team’s point guard, as usual wearing No. 3o on her jersey, was right up on her mark, moving her feet and working hard on defense.

For the past three seasons, it’s been Khalis Whiting in that role as the fearless floor leader at Abington but the All-SOL senior hasn’t played a second this year, out with a knee injury. Instead, she’s taken on a mentor role while passing on her spot and her No. 30 to the new Ghosts’ point guard, who has done Whiting and Abington proud so far.

Maya Johnson may be a freshman, but she’s given Abington exactly what it’s needed so far.

“What’s helping me is her being a coach for me,” Johnson said after Friday’s 54-44 win at Upper Dublin. “She can tell me what I need to do, she always tells me what I’m doing wrong but also how to fix it, so it really helps me to be the point guard for this team. My whole team is always there to support me and help me.”

Johnson’s  helped her teammates plenty as well, adding five assists to her season total on Friday as the Ghosts (15-2, 11-1 SOL Liberty) bounced back from their first SOL loss of the year on Thursday against Plymouth Whitemarsh. The point guard, listed a 5-foot-3 on Abington’s roster, scored just two points but she also tallied two steals and spent most of the second half sticking UD’s (10-7, 8-4 SOL Liberty) Amy Ngo, Bliss Brenner and Geena Sarnoski defensively.

It’s also helped that she’s not the only freshman in the starting lineup and she’s not the only small guard in the lineup. Fellow freshman Dani Brusha, also 5-foot-3, has been a fixture in the starting five and junior Abril Bowser is part of what Abington coach Dan Marsh jokingly referred to as the “mighty mites” at 5-foot-3 as well. That trio, plus Piper McGinley, Jordyn Reynolds and Maura Day off the bench, are the spark to Abington’s unrelenting pressure defense.

As a freshman, Whiting was physically stronger and more of a scorer than Johnson is at this point, but Marsh sees one major likeness between the two guards.

“They’re both fearless,” Marsh said. “It’s what I love about Maya, she’s fearless but she’s also very, very coachable. If I take her out, she’s always asking ‘Coach, what did I do?’ and we can tell her and know she’s going to correct it because she wants to learn. She wants to guard the tough kids, she’s just fearless, her and Dani brought that energy into our program defensively that lets us play how we want to play.”

Johnson would have gotten minutes anyway, but when Whiting went down with a season-ending knee injury during a fall tournament with the team, the freshman knew she had to step in to a much bigger role. Whiting, who is committed to play at Stony Brook, also moved right into coach mode.

In her first year with Abington, Whiting was the lone freshman starter on a veteran team with lofty goals. While this year’s iteration doesn’t have that same amount of experience, the Ghosts are still planning to stick around for a while in the playoffs so they’ll need their point guard to be a big part of any run they go on.

With JV coach/assistant coach Gabbie Nolan, a former Abington point guard under Marsh and Whiting on the bench, Johnson has a wealth of resources to lean on.

“Her energy and her ability to see the court and make good decisions, I think she’s a lot like me as a freshman,” Whiting said. “In my role I took on this season as an assistant coach, or whatever that role may be, I’m able to help her and lead her through any adversity she may face as a young point guard. I think she’s going to learn a lot and even I’m learning a lot seeing the game from the sideline.”

Johnson wasn’t intimidated making the jump up from middle school to high school thanks to AAU experience playing with K-Low Elite against some top level competition. Still, there were adjustments to make like figuring out how to get by bigger players or keep the ball against bigger, stronger upperclassmen.

The freshman has enjoyed the different matchups and challenges she’s faced so far this season with Abington, adding that it’s pushing her to want to become a better player so she can deliver in clutch moments like juniors Cire Worley and Jaida Helm have this year. She’s already shown an ability to adjust well in a game like she did Friday, picking up two first half fouls but staying out of any further trouble despite guarding UD’s top offensive threats.

She’s still working to become a better shooter, but Johnson is otherwise already a lot to handle for opposing defenses. Although she’s small, she’s also lightning-fast, has a tremendous handle she uses to weave around defenders and excellent court vision.

Her best pass Friday didn’t get a bucket directly, with Helm getting fouled off Johnson’s close-quarters dish around two players, but it did draw some praise from the traveling Abington fans.

“My speed and my handle, when I penetrate it’s easy for me to look up and find my teammates,” Johnson said. “When I was younger, I worked with a point guard coach and I was always taught to look up and especially when I penetrate, to be looking for the pass. I always trust my handle, whether I’m going off my right hand or my left hand, so that allows me to look up and find teammates.”

When Whiting handed her number and her spot to Johnson, the senior wasn’t surprised that the freshman was ready for it.

“Confidence is what I saw early on in Maya,” Whiting said. “I feel like that’s a big thing to have, as a young point guard, as a baller, period, as an athlete, it’s important to always have confidence because when you do, nothing ever fazes you. Even when there’s pressure, I feel like her confidence is there.”

ABINGTON 54, UPPER DUBLIN 44

If the Ghosts were harboring any letdowns after falling to PW on Thursday, Jaida Helm didn’t give them much time to show up.

The junior had a really solid game, posting a double-double with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds including seven first quarter points as Abington took a 12-6 lead over the host Cardinals. While the game was played at a lesser pace than the night before, Abington’s defense was no less disruptive and created 10 first half turnovers that also sped up UD just enough to affect shots the Cardinals usually convert.

Cire Worley, Jordyn Reynolds and Dani Brusha scored all 13 of Abington’s second quarter points in a three minute span after UD cut the lead to 12-10 and helped the Ghosts to a 25-15 halftime lead.

Worley, who scored 13, had six in an 8-0 run to close the third quarter that put the Ghosts ahead 42-25.

Helm finished stronger than she started, with eight fourth quarter points and Abington needed all of them as the Cardinals caught fire. Geena Sarnoski didn’t miss, scoring 10 in the frame while Amy Ngo had eight of her game-high 23 to try and rally UD back but each time the Cardinals seemed to make headway, Abington answered.

ABINGTON 12 13 17 12 – 54
UPPER DUBLIN 6 9 10 19 – 44
A: Cire Worley 6 1-1 13, Abril Bowser 2 0-0 5, Jaida Helm 5 8-8 19, Maya Johnson 1 0-0 2, Dani Brusha 1 5-8 7, Jordyn Reynolds 3 0-0 8. Totals: 18 14-17 54.
UD: Bliss Brenner 2 1-2 5, Geena Sarnoski 4 4-4 14, Colleen Klammer 2 0-2 2, Amy Ngo 7 6-7 23. Totals: 13 11-15 44
3-pointers: A – Reynolds 2, Helm, Bowser; UD – Sarnoski 2, Ngo 3.