Abington defeated SOL National Conference rival Pennsbury 63-50 to capture the SOL Tournament title on Tuesday night. To view game action photos, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Franconia – The Suburban One League handed out a pretty darn impressive trophy for its inaugural SOL Men’s Championship. And it was Abington that took the coveted hardware home after the Ghosts defeated National Conference rival Pennsbury 63-50 in the SOL title game played at Souderton High School.
“We wanted to win it – and we are more than happy to take it home,” smiled Abington head coach Charles Grasty. “We will have a very good spot for it at the school.”
Abington (21-3) will add the first-ever SOL Final Four championship to its trophy case. The Ghosts entered the tournament as the SOL National Conference champion. And for Pennsbury (19-5), it marked the third time the Falcons have fallen to Abington this year – and the third frustrating year in a row that Pennsbury has not been able to beat their conference nemesis.
“My kids all read the papers before the season and read about how good Pennsbury was going to be this year – and the kids took it personally,” said Grasty. “Pennsbury is a very good basketball team – but our kids felt like we were a good team, too. There is no question that we get up to play Pennsbury.”
“We try to treat it like any other game, but we know it’s Pennsbury,” said Abington senior guard Matt Penecale. “We are both very familiar with each other, and I think that is the reason the game started out the way it did.”
The first half of the championship game made fans wonder if they were truly seeing two of the elite teams in District One. The halftime score was an often hard-to-watch 15-14 score in favor of Abington. The Ghosts shot a dismal 6-24 (25 percent) from the field in the first half – while Pennsbury was even worse shooting 5-25 (20 percent) from the field.
“We played the way we needed to play in the first half,” said Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman. “We contested all of their jump shots, but we needed to continue to attack the rack.”
The pedestrian pace of the game changed drastically in the second half.
Abington took control of the title game with a brilliant third quarter. The Ghosts hit an incredible 10-of-13 shots from the field to open the third period and closed the period with a commanding 41-26 lead. Freshman Robbie Heath – who would score a rare four-point play in the fourth period – fueled the Abington offense in the third period with 10 of his game-high 19 points.
“Robbie can shoot – he had a couple of the ‘no-no’ – ‘yes-yes’ – shots that young players take,” said Grasty. “But we trust in him to make those open shots.
“Matt (Penecale) did such a great job of getting him the ball in good spots,” added Grasty. “When Matt has the ball in his hands – I can go have a seat. He knows what to do.”
“I feel good getting him the ball,” said Penecale. “I like to score points – but assists are even better.”
Not lost in the Abington victory was the spectacular 2-point performance by 6-foot, 5-inch Jack Steinman.
Spectacular?
Steinman took no less that six defensive charges on the defensive end of the floor and frustrated the high-flying Falcons.
“Jack does whatever it takes to make to help us win,” said Grasty. “What he does is really dangerous – but he does it well.”
“There is no question that Jack played a great game for us,” said Penecale. “He might not get a lot on the stat line offensively, but he was great again tonight with taking those charges.”
Both Abington and Pennsbury knew going into this tournament that win or lose each would be playing this Friday (2/13/15) in the first round of the PIAA Quad-A District One tournament.
“We know that North Penn plays in a tough conference – that conference (SOL Continental) got six teams in the playoffs,” said Grasty in reference to the Ghosts first round playoff opponent. “We will have to prepare very hard for them.”
“I told the kids to have fun tonight before the game – and refocus and get ready for Friday after the game,” said Coleman as the Falcons will host Central Bucks South. “There is always something we can learn from playing Abington.”
Pennsbury Falcons 9 5 12 24 * 50
Abington Ghosts 7 8 26 22 * 63
Pennsbury: Cameron Jones 15; Derrick Woods 12; Mekhi Bryant 9; Rob Daly 7; Juan Perez Jones 4; and Addison Howard 3. Total – 50.
Abington: Robbie Heath 19; Amir Hinton 17; Matt Penecale 14; Curtis Lochner 4; Bernard James 3; Brian Close 2; Brendan Gallagher 2; and Jack Steinman 2. Total – 63.
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