It was a tough day for SOL boys’ basketball teams as Abington, Central Bucks West & Neshaminy all saw their seasons come to an end in Saturday’s PIAA 6A quarterfinal round.
#2-1 HAZLETON 94, #1-1 ABINGTON 86
By Scott Huff
Bethlehem – There was no certainly luck of the Irish for Abington on this St. Patrick’s Day afternoon.
The Ghosts (24-6) were jettisoned from the PIAA 6A basketball tournament in a racehorse 94-86 loss to Hazleton (26-1) in a quarterfinal game played before a packed house at Liberty High School.
“I thought we had players matched up to what they wanted to do offensively,” said Abington head coach Charles Grasty. “But they made some tough shots – a lot of tough shots.
“Double zero (No. 00) really got hot – and he got a lot of help,” added Grasty in reference to 6-foot, 8-inch Josh Samec who scored a career-high 33 points – mostly from the perimeter. “They are very athletic, very long, and play smart basketball.”
Samec indeed had a great support group as three other Cougars scored in double figures. Da’Mir Faison (20), Joey Grula (19), and Jeff Planutis (18) – unlike the 6-8 Samec – all attacked the rim and scored often in the paint.
Abington trailed early and never was able to get the lead.
The Ghosts trailed by six at the close of the first period (19-13) – by five at the close of the half (37-32) – and by 11 (56-45) at the close of the third period.
A frantic fourth quarter saw the two teams combine for an astounding 79 points over the final eight minutes – with Abington outscoring the Cougars 41-38 in the final period.
The lead fluctuated between eight and 14 points for most of the second half, but an Abington surge spearheaded by tenacious offensive rebounding by junior Eric Dixon – who scored 17 fourth quarter points – saw the Ghosts climb to within five points (80-75) in the fourth period.
Dixon would finish his impressive day with 35 points and 17 rebounds – 11 off the offensive glass – and would once again receive an explosive effort from senior Robbie Heath, who scored 30 points.
“Losing this game is a huge disappointment,” said Heath, who is considering both Harvard and Drexel as possible collegiate landing locations next year. “We won the district championship – but we really wanted that state championship.
“This was my final shot at a state championship, but hopefully the underclassmen will get another shot next year,” added Heath.
“These players were like brothers to me – 12 brothers – and I will miss them and all of the coaches on the coaching staff.”
Heath was seriously missed at the end of the game due to foul problems.
The talented Ghost guard fouled out – and received two questionable (this writer’s observation) technical fouls. The two technicals added to his three personal fouls limited his playing time in the second half and forced his eventual exit from the game.
“It’s a game of emotion,” said Grasty. “Maybe I could have done a better job of controlling that emotion.
“Robbie has played here for four years and has three district championships,” continued Grasty. “He has been a great leader for his team.
“When you score 86 points – you feel like you should win the game,” continued Grasty. “But only when the other team doesn’t score 87 or more.
“But in the end it was a really exciting game, played in front of a huge crowd, and a game that these kids will always remember,” added Grasty. “It was fun for the kids to play – and it was fun for me to coach.”
Even if the luck of an Irish leprechaun was not on your side.
Free Throws – Heath would finish his wonderful career with 1642 points and is the second leading scorer in Abington history behind Richard Wright (Class of ’75) who scored a career total of 1681 points…Dixon has scored 1616 points after his junior year and scored an Abington career season-high 672 points this season.
Hazleton Cougars 19 18 19 38 * 94
Abington Ghosts 13 19 13 41 * 86
Hazleton (94) – Josh Semac 33, Da’Mir Faison 20, Joey Gula 19 Jeffrey Planutis 18, Ryan Wolk 3, Andew Vayda 1.
Abington (86) – Eric Dixon 35, Robbie Heath 30, Lucas Monroe 7, Dante Knox 6, Hasan Whitby 3, Anwaar Berry 2, Darius Brown 2, JP Nolan 2.
#12-2 ROMAN CATHOLIC 75, #1-4 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 56
West coach Adam Sherman figured a couple things needed to happen for his team to top the Philadelphia Catholic League powerhouse.
First, Roman couldn't get off to a good start. The Bucks would have to play the whole game either with a lead or within striking distance, and also, they would have to shoot the ball exceptionally well. Unfortunately, the Cahillites came out on fire, CB West couldn't make much of anything and Roman played the whole game in front.
It all added up to the end of what may go down as the best season in West history in the state quarterfinals Saturday at Bensalem.
"It's hard for us to come back on a team with that type of ability, and we also didn't shoot the ball well," Sherman said. "We also hit a spurt where we pressed a little bit mentally, but they're kids and you're behind."
Roman, with four Division I prospects in its starting lineup, scored the first seven points of the game. Even an injury to standout junior Seth Lundy couldn't slow down the PCL champions, who turned to Allen Betrand (23 points), Hakim Hart (24 points) and Lynn Greer III (10 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) to carry the load.
CB West found it tough going against Roman's length and speed defensively. The Bucks shot just 3-of-22 on 3-point shots and without their great equalizer, couldn't mount a comeback like they did in the second round against Reading.
"They're a high-energy team, great athletes and great players, plus they're smart and they really showed how athletic they were," West senior Collin MacAdams said. "They came out with fire in the beginning. We shot it pretty bad, but you have to find ways to grind through it."
MacAdams put together a strong effort in his last high school game, scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Shane McCusker (12) and Jake Reichwein (10) also reached double-figures as they wrapped up their careers.
The ending was disappointing, but it couldn’t detract from the 23 wins, the SOL Continental title, the District I final four or the state elite eight. No other CB West team had ever gone this far into the state tournament, and there was a sense in the program all year this group had something special going.
"These guys accomplished a heck of a lot," Sherman said. "This was a tight-knit group that really, really enjoyed their time together. They invested a lot, I'd say this year out of 365 days, they spent maybe 300 days together. They've invested a lot and that room was full of tears, and honestly, that's how you want a season to end because it shows they had a deep bond with each other."
West was very aggressive in the second half and scored 10 of its 14 third quarter points at the foul line. Roman took a 12-point lead into the half however, and managed to just add to it throughout the second half.
Roman moves on to face Pine-Richland in the state semifinals on Tuesday.
The Bucks will head their separate ways, but they'll carry the memories of this run with them wherever they go.
"This is probably the best Central Bucks team – of all three schools – of all time and it was just a great year," MacAdams said. "A league championship, a final four in districts and this, it's a big deal."
Central Bucks West (10-2 SOL) closed out its memorable season with a 23-8 record.
Roman Catholic 17-17-18-23 75
Central Bucks West 8-12-14-22 56
Roman Catholic (75) – Hart 24, Betrand 23, Greer III 10, Lundy 4, Wild 6, Lett 4, Lai 2, Anderson 2
Central Bucks West (56) – MacAdams 20, McCusker 12, Reichwein 10, Munari 4, Mulhearn 3, Neri 5, Briece 2
#12-1 LINCOLN #1-9 NESHAMINY 70
The Redskins, who trailed by two at halftime, outscored Lincoln 17-12 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 32-29 lead over the District 12 champions. They were in this one until the end but couldn’t put the Railsplitters away.
Chris Arcidiacono put an exclamation point on a brilliant senior season with a 35-point outing that included a 21-of-23 effort at the foul line. He also had two three-pointers. Charles Dominick also had a big game, finishing with 23 points, which included seven three-pointers. Danny Bodine had nine points.
Neshaminy (7-5 SOL) closed out its historic season with a 19-11 record.
Neshaminy 15-17-18-20 70
Abraham Lincoln 17-12-28-20 77
Neshaminy (70) – Chris Arcidiacono 35, Charles Dominick 23, Danny Bodine 9, Cameron Jeffers 3.
Abraham Lincoln (77) – Tyree Corbett 29, Jahi Randall 1, Emeul Charleston 9, Khalif Meares 10, Shakeir Morrison 13, Sanheir Day 7, Aseem Lucky 8.
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