Abington advanced to Saturday’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal round while Pennsbury saw its season come to an end. To view photos of the Pennsbury/MLK game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Ghosts Advance to Elite Eight (Abington 59, York William Penn 53)
Four days after winning its first state playoff game in 26 years, Abington one-upped itself on Wednesday night, advancing to the quarterfinals while joining the ‘Elite 8’ of the state.
The Ghosts, who were led by junior Matt Penecale’s 21 points, came from behind to defeat York William Penn High by a score of 59-53 in a PIAA Class AAAA second round playoff at Coatesville High School.
The Ghosts, who are now 24-5 on the season, will face Martin Luther King on Saturday at a location that is still to be determined.
“I thought that our guys had the jitters in the first half, but after we settled down, I thought we got going,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “It’s been since 1988 that we won one (game) and now we won two and it’s big.”
A 13-3 run by its opponent to end the first half wasn’t enough to keep Abington down. After all, this is a season that saw the Ghosts go undefeated in conference play after losing three key starters from last year’s team that was good enough to make it to the district semifinals.
And after Wednesday night, it will go down as a season in which the Ghosts won at least 24 games while advancing to the state quarterfinals.
The Bearcats (23-7) outscored Abington 15-7 in the second quarter and took a 28-22 lead into the half. But the Ghosts regrouped in the locker room and outscored York, 12-4 in the third quarter and never looked back.
“In the second half, we pretty much did the exact opposite of what we did in the first half,” Penecale said. “We were able to win the turnover battle and get good shots.”
In the fourth quarter, Abington went on a 25-point outburst and remained on top until the very end. Penecale’s play, as it has been all season, was a huge difference-maker for the Ghosts.
“Matt has been solid for us for three years now,” Grasty said. “We knew that he could get going and once he did, he got some easy baskets, and we were able to get going and get past them.”
Finishing right behind Penecale was Amir Hinton, who scored 20 points. Senior Khari Jefferson added nine points and five blocked shots, while Anthony Lee tallied seven points. Laz Mackrides led the Ghosts on the boards with 12.
“We finally won (our first state playoff game) in 26 years, and now to go to the ‘Elite 8’ is a really good experience,” Penecale said. “And it’s great to get balanced scoring. When everyone can score, it just makes it so much easier. You can pass it to a teammate and he can easily create shots for himself. I think that’s why we’ve been so successful this year.”
Penecale went 7-for-13 from the floor, while knocking down 6 of 8 shots from the free throw line.
York, the District Three champion this season, was led by Jahaire Wilson’s 21 points in the losing effort.
Grasty said that he doesn’t know much about his next opponent in Martin Luther King, but he’s sure that they’re still alive for a reason.
“There are eight teams left and we’ll have to prepare for them,” Grasty said. “Everybody’s good now. Our guys are having a great time. That’s what high school basketball is about. They’re special, man. They want to get right back in the gym tomorrow.”
Martin Luther King, District 12’s No. 2 seed, defeated Pennsbury 65-43 in another second round playoff on Wednesday night.
Abington 15 7 12 25—59
York 13 15 4 21—53
Pennsbury’s Special Season Ends (12-2 Martin Luther King 65, 1-2 Pennsbury 43)
Mekhi Bryant, like his teammates, was understandably disappointed after Wednesday’s season-ending 65-43 loss to Martin Luther King in the second round of the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament. The junior standout doesn’t want to forget how he felt, but he also doesn’t want to feel that way again.
“We get a break and we get to re-evaluate, and we get to experience this feeling that we never felt before,” Bryant said. “I never felt this feeling before.”
And then his tone changed.
“I’m proud to say I’m part of Pennsbury High School,” Bryant said. “As we focus on what we need to do – we can accomplish anything we set our eyes on.
“It was our goal to get to Temple, to get to ‘Nova. We were just going one game at a time. Instead of a goal of going 22-0, we just wanted to go 1-0 22 times. It’s one game at a time.”
It was a philosophy that served the Falcons well this season as they compiled a 23-6 record that included a magical postseason run.
“We got to the district final for the first time since 1999, and we made it to the second round of states,” coach Bill Coleman said. “For a team that lost in the first round of districts last year, it was a huge accomplishment.
“It says a lot to the work ethic of the guys. They guys have a big belief in what we have going on, so it’s huge, but it is disappointing to see it end in this particular way.”
The Falcons’ season ended in front of a packed house at Colonial Elementary School, and on this night, their usually high-powered attack never could find its stride. Playing no small role in the Falcons’ inability to get untracked was the officiating.
Midway through the opening quarter junior center Derrick Woods was whistled for his second foul. Five minutes into the game, Bryant also had his second.
“When we played Chester, I was in foul trouble early, and I felt like I let down my team,” Bryant said. “I didn’t want to let them down again, so I made sure I moved my feet and didn’t reach too much.”
Bryant didn’t let his team down, torching the Cougars for a game-high 25 points. Woods also overcame his foul woes to score 11 points. No other Falcon had more than three points.
“We got taken out of the game early by the officials,” Coleman said. “It’s just a shame that we could not get a rhythm. We couldn’t find a rhythm.
“When you have a game as tight as it was called, that’s what happens. Plus we didn’t make shots. Cameron (Jones) was getting pushed out physically a lot, holding his jersey, and nothing was called. You have to be able to live with that, but Cam was mortal today.”
Jones, coming off a brilliant 21-point performance against Wilson four days earlier, was held to just two points. He wasn’t the only player who struggled. The Falcons did not connect on their first field goal until Bryant converted a putback five minutes into the game, but despite their offensive woes, they trailed by just a 6-3 count.
The Cougars closed out the frame with an 8-2 run to go into the second quarter with a 14-5 lead. By halftime, they had extended that lead to 35-23.
Not a whole lot changed in the second half, and it certainly didn’t help the Falcons’ cause when senior point guard Steve Ciotti was lost to fouls with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter.
Seven straight points from Bryant, including a drive in the closing seconds after a Cougar turnover trimmed an 18-point Falcon deficit to 50-39 at the end of three quarters. The Falcons managed just four points in the fourth quarter and never threatened.
“Our inability to get a rhythm in the game was the reason we could not get anything going,” Coleman said.
And as a result, a special season came to an end.
Martin Luther King 14 21 15 15-65
Pennsbury 5 18 16 4-43
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