Abington handed PW its first loss of the season and captured the District One 6A title on Saturday night at Temple University’s Liacouras Center. Photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for a gallery of photos.
#2 ABINGTON 75, #1 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 73
By Ed Morrone
PHILADELPHIA — Heading into Saturday night, Plymouth Whitemarsh had steamrolled its way to a perfect 27-0 record.
But the Colonials hadn’t crossed paths with Abington yet.
Inside the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University, District One and the SOL’s top two teams met for the first time this season, and the theatrics that unfolded over the course of 32 minutes were well worth the season-long wait.
For one half, it appeared that it would be business as usual for PW, the same result the Colonials had achieved 27 other times this season. But then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
Abington 75, PW 73.
Yes, you read that right: the Ghosts, on the heels of an unbelievable 29-8 third quarter run, flipped the high school basketball world completely on its axis and stunned the mighty Colonials to capture their third Class 6A district title in the last four years.
It surprised everybody in the building except for Abington, who calmly emerged from the halftime locker room trailing 34-25 as a team with purpose, one that was completely reborn.
“I’ll be honest, that was impressive,” Abington head coach Charles Grasty said. “Not only as a coach, but as a fan, you just love to see good basketball. We were able to step up. We didn’t change any of the X’s and O’s at halftime. I wasn’t yelling or screaming.
“The energy wasn’t there in the first half and we were playing on our heels, but we’ve been here before. We started to chip away, and as soon as they started seeing that ball go through the basket, they got a lot of confidence.”
Abington’s Robbie Heath and Eric Dixon, the No. 2 and 3 scorers in school history, had just six and five points, respectively, in the first half. Then, something magical happened, something you can’t truly believe unless you see it for yourself. Of the Ghosts’ 29 third-quarter points, Dixon (16) and Heath (11) were responsible for all but two of them.
Abington went from down 36-25 early in the third to up 54-42 when it was over. Trailing 38-28, Dixon and Heath ripped off 12 straight, and the duo successfully converted four and-1s in the final 1:38 of the quarter. The monumental swing in momentum energized the Ghosts while simultaneously shell-shocking PW, which appeared on the brink of pulling away for win No. 28 in a row a few times in the first half.
“Whenever we get those and-1s, it feels good,” Heath said “When we got those, the momentum changed and everyone got excited.”
Heath won his third district title in his four years as a starter. Before the Ghosts were crowned champions in 2015, 2017 and 2018, they hadn’t won a district title since 1986 (the only other one before that came in 1982).
Heath, Dixon and the rest of their teammates never once panicked despite falling into a double-digit deficit.
“I thought we were still in the game at halftime,” said Heath, who scored 11 of his 25 points in the third. “Nine points is not a lot in the game of basketball, so I wasn’t worried. I knew we would make a run, even if I didn’t know it would be 29-8.
“It’s a privilege. To come over here from Australia, winning three championships in four years, I’m just speechless. Doing it with the guys on my team and my boy ‘E,’ it’s pretty cool.”
‘E’ would be Dixon, and boy, did he ever rise to the occasion. After PW’s 7-foot-2 giant of a center Naheem McLeod had his way with Dixon in the first half, Dixon played like a man possessed in the third. He scored 16 of his 25 points in the quarter and attacked McLeod in the post any chance he got. Dixon shot 9-for-16 from the field for the game and 7-for-11 at the foul line and simply could not and would not be denied.
“Being down nine at halftime, I took it personal,” Dixon said. “I made too many mistakes in the first half. I know who I am and what I can do, and in the first half I didn’t, but in the second half I played instinctually and tried to attack.”
Abington built its lead to as high as 14 points in the fourth, but if everyone expected the Ghosts to put it on cruise control, then they hadn’t been paying attention to the season PW has been having.
Down 60-48, the Colonials scored six straight and began to chip away at an Abington lead that seemed insurmountable given the explosive third quarter. PW senior guard Ish Horn willed his team back almost by himself, hitting circus shot after circus shot in the fourth, pouring in 15 of his game-high 29 points before fouling out in the final moments. He hit a three-pointer to pull PW within 71-68, and they got as close as 71-69 and 73-71 before Heath iced the game with a pair of free throws with six seconds left.
PW head coach Jim Donofrio had said after the team’s semifinal win over Central Bucks West earlier in the week that until PW proved it could topple Abington, the Ghosts would be the favorite. He was referring to the last three postseason meetings between the teams: in 2015, Abington toppled PW in the district title game; after the Colonials captured the crown in 2016, Abington upended them twice in 2017 — first in the SOL Tournament, and then again in the district semifinals.
“Until we beat Abington, we had to actually prove we could do it,” Donofrio said “You have to give Abington all the credit. Dixon is a big-time player, and so is Heath, and we knew they were not going to go away. In the second half of championship games, unless you’re up a big margin, it becomes heart and guts time. Whatever that third quarter was, we have to live with that, whether we like it or not.
“Nothing is safe in games like this, and you can’t get lulled into a false sense of anything. I don’t mean to make excuses, because I’ll be the first one to take responsibility and go back to the drawing board and say, ‘What if? What can I do better? What can we do better?’”
Heath and Dixon were certainly the headliners for Abington, but they were by no means the only contributors. Lucas Monroe had a fantastic all-around game, posting 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, and JP Nolan scored eight of his 10 points in the first half to keep the Ghosts in the game while their offensive stars found their rhythm.
For PW, Horn posted 29 points (11-for 20 from the field, 5-for-5 from the line) and grabbed eight boards. McLeod posted 20 points and 10 boards, but shot just 8-for-18 from short range as Abington tried to be as physical with him as possible. Ahmin Williams chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds.
Both teams will begin anew next weekend in the state tournament, and may end up seeing each other again before the season is over for good. But for now, Abington will celebrate history, while PW will wonder why things went so haywire in that fateful third quarter.
“It never gets old,” Grasty said. “As a coach, you can draw up all the X’s and O’s you want, but if you don’t have players like these guys then it’s never going to happen. It’s a credit to all of these players. We’re happy to have them here at Abington. We love the community and they love us, and we just want to keep it going.”
His two stars agreed with that sentiment.
“Just because we’re here again doesn’t mean it gets old,” Dixon said. “We’re thankful to be here. This time, we made history in doing it back-to-back for the first time. Abington is a great place to be, and we’re all so happy.”
Added Heath: “The people around us have been so supportive. Now we have to go out and get a state championship, and we’ll have accomplished everything.”
It was a game for the ages, and even in defeat, Donofrio was effusive in his praise toward his opponent.
“I can psychoanalyze us all night, but Abington just hit another gear,” he said. “We’ve hit that gear ourselves all year. But I give all the credit in the world to Abington.
“Now, we’ll see what we’re made of. I think we’re made of a lot, having won 27 games in a row. We can’t overly panic. It has to irk us and annoy us a bit, but it’s the world we live in — the world of competition.”
Abington 14-11-29-21 75
PW 18-16-8-31 73
Abington (75) — Robbie Heath 25, Eric Dixon 25, Lucas Monroe 12, JP Nolan 10, Bryan Coffman 2, Darious Brown 1
PW (73) — Ish Horn 29, Naheem McLeod 20, Ahmin Williams 15, Alan Glover 4, Danny Cooper 4, Caelin Peters 1
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