Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh were winners in Saturday’s SOL Tournament at Bensalem. Abington/NP photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography, and PW/Pennsbury photos courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for a photo gallery of both games…CLICK HERE.
Abington will face Plymouth Whitemarsh in Monday night’s Suburban One Tournament title game at Souderton Area High School in a 7:30 p.m. contest. The Ghosts will look to recapture a title they won in 2015 (Central Bucks West won the 2016 title) while the Colonials are looking for their first tournament crown.
The last time these two SOL powers met was in the District One 4A title game on Feb. 27, 2015. Abington won that game 53-35.
ABINGTON 66, NORTH PENN 45
When it comes to help defense, Abington sophomore Eric Dixon has just about seen it all.
Polished, skilled big men are a rarity at any level of basketball, but especially the high school level. So, teams make it a point to send an extra guy or two, or sometimes more, at Dixon any time he catches the ball anywhere on the block.
But Dixon knows they're coming. He accepts it because he knows eventually, he'll figure out how it’s coming and then find a way to beat it. Even North Penn, with its lineup of good athletes with good size and long arms, had to double Dixon.
"It depends on who I'm playing, but a team like that, yeah, I'm going to take it up stronger," Dixon said. "It's been happening all season. Teams double team in different ways and the way they were double teaming – I saw a little bit of a gap on every single one. I figured I could get to the gap and get to the rim."
Dixon had 11 points in a decent first half, but a spectacular 20-point second half, scoring a game-high 31 points as the Ghosts returned to the SOL final for the third straight season. He also had 10 rebounds to complete an impressive double-double.
Trailing by five at half, Abington used a 17-0 run to close the third quarter, taking control of a game that had seen the Ghosts struggle at times in the first half.
North Penn has played variations of zone defense all season and with good success. That was the case on Saturday as Abington fell in love with the outside shot, or just took a quick shot leading to bad offensive possessions.
"They were in a zone and I thought our kids, when they see a zone, like most high school kids, they just want to come right down and take that first shot," Abington coach Charles Grasty said. "We were telling them to settle down. We wanted to play inside-out, we wanted to use our bigs and our size to hurt them."
North Penn had three players, Reece Udinski, Ricky Johns and David Giuliani, score in double figures. Udinski was strong in the first half, scoring 11 points and finding ways to beat Abington from the perimeter and by attacking the rim. Giuliani hit a pair of 3-pointers and put a lot of energy into battling the bigger Abington frontline for rebounds.
Johns did the same, working the glass tough and using all 6-foot-4 of his height to play stout defense on everyone from Robbie Heath to Dixon.
The Knights built a 28-20 lead late in the second quarter, but the Ghosts got a big boost going into the half when Dixon drained a 3-pointer with less than a second on the clock.
"We wanted to play a phenomenal basketball team," North Penn coach John Conrad said. "It was a great test for us, a great atmosphere to let us see if we could get ready for districts."
The Knights built a 36-30 lead when Giuliani connected on a 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. However, both he and Johns picked up their fourth fouls in the quarter, putting them on the bench and setting the stage for Dixon and Abington to make their move.
Dixon scored the first six points of the 17-0 run, and a layup by Heath put the Ghosts ahead 38-36, their first lead since the first half.
"At halftime, coach really harped on us to pick up our play, to play with intensity and play with aggression," said Heath, who had 14 points and three steals. "E (Dixon) and Darius (Brown) coming off the bench really gave us a spark. E made big plays and we fueled off him."
The big man also scored the last seven points of the run, the last shot a corner 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds on the clock, putting the Ghosts up 47-36.
"Dixon, he's unreal, I don't really know what you can do, you just try to contain him," Conrad said. "He's the real deal, he's good."
Conrad was in an understandable bind. He didn't want to rush Johns or Giuliani back in and risk fouling them out, but his team was also struggling on both ends with the two seniors out. Udinski was also held scoreless in the second half and Heath said the Ghosts made sure to chase the Knights senior off the 3-point line and make sure guys were ready to slide and help on his drives.
"They're big, it's hard to say, I don't know if we wore down or not, but they did a great job of rebounding in the second half," Conrad said. "We gave up a lot of second-chance points that they didn't get in the first half. You can't underestimate Ricky and David being on the bench, they're two of our better rebounders. They're big and strong and relentless also.
"In hindsight, yeah, you put them back in but I also didn't anticipate a 17-0 run. It kind of goes together."
Dixon scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, and later, the Ghosts used an 8-3 run to take a 59-43 lead with three minutes left in the contest. The last bucket of that run was a three-point play by Dixon, his final points of the evening.
As a team, Abington seemed to play with an edge in the second half, but no player more so than Dixon. He absorbed a lot of contact throughout the game, but kept reading the double teams and finding a way to beat them. Dixon noted most of the time, the help was coming from the top, so he could turn into the lane and find space.
"In the first half, I felt like it wasn't so much them that was making me miss," Dixon said. "I was getting to my spot but the shots just weren't falling. The intensity came up, I got a little bit of anger in me, the dog came out and I just played a lot harder."
Also for the Ghosts, Brown – who had 31 points the entire season entering Saturday's game – gave his team a spark off the bench with 7 points, two steals, two rebounds – including a key tip for a bucket on the offensive end – and one assist. Lucas Monroe added seven points, nine rebounds and six assists.
For the Knights, Udinski (11 points), Johns (10) and Giuliani (10) all finished in double figures.
North Penn 15 15 6 9 – 45
Abington 15 10 22 19 – 66
North Penn (45) – Lance Ford 4, Ricky Johns 10, Chris Coleman 2, Reece Udinski 11, David Giuliani 10, AJ Mitchell 6, Michael Ward 2
Abington (66) – Rob Young 4, Robbie Heath 14, Lucas Monroe 7, Eric Dixon 31, Darius Brown 7, Jonah Canada 3
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 64, PENNSBURY 48
Basketball is a game of runs.
Coaches love to use that term, players too. It's true, like most cliches, even if it is overused. It was also the story of Saturday's game between the Colonials and the Falcons.
PW scored the first eight points of the game, Pennsbury the next six then PW 10 of the next 12. While it was a see-saw game at times, the Colonials were always in control, even if their style of play doesn't always seem to look like it. They play aggressive on both ends, barreling into the lane and attacking the hoop on offense, pressing and causing plenty of turnovers on defense.
"It’s been a tricky season, and it’s a tricky bunch,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “They’re very athletic guys and you’re trying to teach some things, control some things and you’re trying to evolve and grow up a bit and it takes some time. They just want to go, they’re ‘go’ guys.”
Three Colonials scored in double-figures. Ish Horn had 18 while Cheo Houston and Naheem McLeod each scored 17. Houston and Horn were the attackers on offense, both of them powering into the lane, and they were disruptors on defense, combining for seven steals.
PW loves to create turnovers, but it will also turn the ball over itself. That helped Pennsbury stick around, as did 18 points from forward Mark Flagg. Donofrio can live with his team's turnovers because he knows it's how they play the best.
“It’s hard to really control it," Houston said. “We’re kind of a street ball team, but one that has discipline. We try to make the right plays and be disciplined on offense and not make too many turnovers.”
A score by Horn midway through the second quarter put PW up 28-16, and the Colonials took a nine-point lead into the half (30-21). Pennsbury kept trying to get back in the game, but PW was ready with an answer. Even after the Falcons chipped the score down to 36-20, the Colonials got rolling again.
PW used a 10-0 run late in the third to extend its lead to 46-28, a commanding but by no means final margin.
"Get out of your own way, that’s been our message for a while,” Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman said. “We kept telling them – let’s do what we know how to do. You face this stuff all year long; get out of your own way. We were over-prepared for PW and that was maybe the problem.”
Pennsbury had a big run left in the tank, scoring seven straight to get within 48-38, then after a McLeod hoop, five more to cut the lead down to 50-43 with five minutes to play. A 3-pointer by Matt Walker put PW back up by 10 and a score by McLeod extended it to 12, a strong response in a crucial spot.
"It's a little more loose, you have to forgive it while they're learning," Donofrio said. "This team has to be more four or five guys in double figures and that was the goal in the beginning. It's taken a while, but they're starting to figure it out. We've got guys who want to be like (Xzavier Malone) was last year."
Pennsbury 8 13 14 13 – 48
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15 15 18 16 – 64
Pennsbury (48) – Vaughn Ward 4, Billy Warren 5, Tyler Sessa-Reeves 8, Joey Monaghan 2, Mark Flagg 18, Raylil Winton Law 5, Addison Howard 4, Chad Weldon 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh (64) – Ish Horn 18, Naheem McLeod 17, Matt Walker 5, Cheo Houston 17, Ahmad Williams 3, Alan Glover 4
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