Plymouth Whitemarsh and Abington will meet in Friday’s District One AAAA title game at Temple University. To view photos of the PW/Ridley and Abington/Pennsbury games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Philadelphia – The PIAA Quad-A District One Finals will be an all Suburban One League affair as both Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh advanced to the title game with semifinal victories before a vociferous crowd at Temple University.
The SOL National Conference champion Ghosts (25-3) beat conference rival Pennsbury (22-6) for the fourth time this season – and the ninth consecutive time over the last three seasons – by a 49-40 score. The Colonials (24-2) – the SOL American Conference champion – advanced to the district title game with a thrilling 44-41 victory over Ridley (22-6).
Pennsbury will host Ridley on Friday in a playback game to determine the # 3 and # 4 seeds from District One.
Pennridge (23-4) burned the barn with a 90-79 triple-overtime victory over Methacton (23-5). The Rams will now host a playback game on Friday against Lower Merion (17-10) to determine the # 5 and # 6 seeds from District One. The Aces defeated # 1 seed Conestoga 46-43 to earn the date with Pennridge.
Pennsbury Doesn’t Have A Ghost Of A Chance – Again
Abington 49 – Pennsbury 40
Abington head coach Charles Grasty calmly roamed up and down the sidelines – arms crossed – and didn’t flinch as his Ghosts were outscored by a 17-2 Pennsbury scoring blitz at the outset of the third period. A 12-point Ghost halftime lead (22-10) was transformed into a five-point (34-29) third period deficit.
Quiz – how many timeouts did Grasty call during that impressive Falcon run? Zero.
“We have a very good group of senior leaders on the floor, and we knew that they were going to make a run at some point,” said Grasty. “I like the kids to just keep on playing – and it has worked out well for us.”
“The coach just let’s us play through those tough times in the game,” said Abington senior Amir Hinton who scored a game-high 25 points. “He just tells us to relax – and we will be fine.”
“We know that Coach has confidence in us and he wants us to play through it,” said senior guard Matt Penecale. “He has faith in us.”
That faith was rewarded as the Ghosts regained control of the game at the outset of the fourth period as Abington went on a 14-4 run and outscored the Falcons 20-6 in the period. Hinton would score 11 points in the final quarter to seal the victory.
If Pennsbury could have played the entire game the way it played the third period – the game would have ended the Falcon nine-game losing streak to Abington.
Pennsbury outscored and outplayed the Ghosts 24-7 in the third period – and the game plan was simple. The Falcons took advantage of the inside dominance of 6-foot, 8-inch Derrick Woods. Woods – who will attend St. Bonaventure next year on a D-1 basketball scholarship – scored 16 of his team-high 17 points in the quarter.
“We knew what we had to do – drop the ball down low to Derrick,” said Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman. “We did that in the third period – we didn’t do enough of it the rest of the game.
“For whatever reason, we went away from what got us the lead,” added Coleman. “When we can get into transition – generate some turnovers – we can do some good things.”
Woods was hit with a pair of technical fouls – one in the first half and one late in the fourth period – and will be forced to miss the Ridley playback game on Friday at Pennsbury.
“Both Amir and Matt really wanted to play for a (district) championship on Friday night,” said Grasty. “They take the games personally and want to show everyone that they are high level players.”
And both the high energy Hinton and the crafty Penecale – along with stoic Coach Grasty – will take their collective talents to the PIAA Quad-A District One championship game against Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Stay tuned.
Pennsbury Falcons 5 5 24 6 * 40
Abington Ghosts 13 9 7 20 * 49
Pennsbury: Derrick Woods 17, Cameron Jones 9; Mekhi Bryant 7; Nick Cereby 5; Rob Daly 2. Total – 40.
Abington: Amir Hinton 25; Matt Penecale 9; Robbie Heath 5; Jack Steinman 4; Brendan Gallagher 3; Brian Close 2; BJ James 1. Total – 49.
Colonials March To PIAA Quad-A District One Finals
Plymouth Whitemarsh 44 – Ridley 41
The game may have lacked in execution – but it surely did not lack in excitement as Plymouth Whitemarsh advanced to the district title game with the victory over Ridley. The Raiders missed a 3-point field goal attempt at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.
“I had no idea – no feel – as to what to expect from Ridley,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio. “We will just thank the basketball gods and walk away with the win.
“This was a game where you can design what you want to do – but the players have to make the plays,” added Donofrio. “This type of atmosphere creates a lot of noise – and sometimes the players just didn’t look to the bench for direction. At times we were flying blind out there.”
One Plymouth Whitemarsh player that was not blinded by the bright lights at Temple U was junior Xzavier Malone. Malone – a transfer from Martin Luther King out of the Philadelphia Public League – scored on some incredible drives to the rim and scored a game-high 19 points.
“Xzavier has a lot of cool under pressure in him,” said Donofrio. “Xzavier, Jimmy (Murray), and Andre (Mitchell) all have that cool about them.”
“I came here to showcase my talents, and I like playing in the big moments,” said Malone. “I have confidence in everything that I do – and I just try to do what my Dad tells me to do.
“I have to give out a shout-out to Abington,” added Malone in reference to the PW opponent in the championship final. “It is going to be a war.”
Two leaders for the Colonials in that upcoming war will be its talented senior guard tandem of Mitchell and Murray. Both M&M boys scored in double figures in the Ridley win as Murray scored 12 points and Mitchell scored 10 points. Mitchell sealed the win hitting four of five free throws in the final forty seconds of the game.
“Our goal is to just get as far as we can,” said Mitchell. “We have had great fan support, and we know that Abington is a good team and is going to be a challenge. I know some of their players from playing AAU ball – and they are good.”
“Abington has not gotten the respect that it deserves,” said Donofrio. “I am impressed with the job that Coach (Charles) Grasty has done – and it seems like they have played the whole season with a chip on their shoulders.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh took some criticism for not playing in the SOL championship postseason championship tournament. Abington won that tournament which included Pennsbury, Pennridge, and Central Bucks West – and now the Ghosts will finally get a shot at the Colonials with a title on the line.
This title will be a PIAA Quad-A District One Championship.
Ridley Raiders 10 10 6 15 * 41
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12 8 9 15 * 44
Ridley: Ryan Bollinger 10, Julian Wing 9; Brett Foster 8; Armeer Staggs 6; Justin Dawson 4; and Nick Czechowicz 4. Total – 41.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Xzavier Malone 19; Jimmy Murray 12; Andre Mitchell 10; Cameron Johnson 2; Devon Monterio-Gray 1. Total – 44.
How About Those Rams?
Pennridge 90 – Methacton 79
Pennridge captured an electrifying triple-overtime victory over Methacton to earn a home playoff date this Friday with Lower Merion.
“Our motto for this game was that we wanted to go home,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “We knew before the game that Lower Merion beat Conestoga – and if we won we would get to play another playoff game at home. Our seniors wanted another home game.”
And they got it behind a scoring barrage that showcased a 29-point scoring performance from junior Dan Long – a 24-point scoring effort from senior Zach Muredda – and a 23-point scoring performance from senior Joey Molettiere.
The Rams trailed by nine at half (34-25) – but rallied to knot the score at 62-62 at the end of regulation with a blistering 22-point fourth period. After two overtimes the score was still knotted at 77-77 – but Pennridge dominated the third overtime to win going away.
“Right now we are 23-4 and I think people can see we are a pretty good basketball team,” said Behrens. “If anyone told me we would be 23-4 at this time of the year and playing in states – I would have signed up for that.”
Pennridge Rams 15 10 15 22 8 7 13 * 90
Methacton Warriors 15 19 11 17 8 7 2 * 79
Pennridge: Dan Long 29; Zach Muredda 24; Joey Molettiere 23; Joe Unangst 12; Ryan Cuthbert 2. Total – 90.
Methacton: Justin Ardman 23; Chris McCarthy 21; Patrick O’Neill 11; Tom Dyer 11; Sean Mann 8; TJ Tornetta 5. Total – 79.
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