By Nate Oxman
Abington’s spirited sprint toward the ninth and final PIAA Class AAAA playoff berth finally stalled Friday night in the final District One play-in game at Colonial Elementary School where the ninth-seeded Lady Ghosts shot a paltry 1-for-11 from the field in the first quarter and fell behind right from the jump against sixth-seeded Great Valley in a 50-31 season-ending defeat.
The numbers the rest of the way were equally unsightly: 3-for-12 in the second quarter, 3-for-16 in the third and 5-for-16 in the fourth for a field goal percentage of 22 percent (12-for-55) in the game. The Lady Ghosts were also 1-for-15 from behind the arc.
While the shots the Ghosts selected struggled to find the bottom of the basket, it was the shots they didn’t take that ultimately doomed the team and frustrated coach Dan Marsh.
“The other girls wouldn’t shoot,” said Marsh. “I don’t get it. I don’t understand it. I really don’t. They haven’t played like that all year. We share the ball. And they were holding it [tonight]. They weren’t moving it. All they [Great Valley] did was pack it in. All we had to do was move the ball and attack and they didn’t. We told them at halftime, but they still didn’t do it.”
After a 56-47 loss to eighth-seeded West Chester Henderson in the second round, the Ghosts became one of eight teams playing for one bid to the state tournament that begins on Tuesday. They took a strong first step by beating 16th-seeded Norristown last Saturday and then fended off 12th-seeded Chester on Wednesday before running out of gas against Great Valley.
“This has been very difficult,” said Marsh. “Playing for ninth place, every game your back is against the wall and everybody is fighting for that spot. Last year we won two and then we got to states and that was much easier. This is really hard - to fight every time. Our girls are worn down emotionally and physically. It was tough. Emily [Leer] was hurt. Jen Kelly was hurt. But what were we going to do? We had to play.”
With all eyes on the 6-foot-2 junior forward Leer, the Patriots played a tight box-and-one zone and invited the Ghosts to hoist shots strictly from the perimeter early on.
“They were very prepared for us and they beat us,” said Marsh. “I mean, what can you say? They packed it in a zone, and the rest of the girls just didn’t want to shoot. I don’t get it. We’re not a one-man team and our girls acted like they were tonight.”
The Ghosts missed their first eight shots of the game, but trailed just 5-0 until freshman forward Aiyannah Peal fed senior Ajanae Boone for a short jump-shot with three minutes, six seconds left in the first period.
However, in what would become a theme of the night, the Patriots responded right away on the ensuing
possession as Colleen O’Malley canned a three-point shot to give Great Valley an 8-2 lead heading into the second quarter.
“They came back,” said senior forward Liz Layton. “They had really good shooters. It was tough. They were good.”
After Layton started the second with a short jumper to make the score 8-4, there was O’Malley 22 seconds later, sinking another three to push the lead up to seven. It grew to eight until Layton finished a great feed by Peal from the opposite post and then another on a perfect drive and dish from Leer to get the Ghosts within four at 13-9.
But those were the exact type of possessions that popped up only on occasion for the Ghosts. The Patriots, meanwhile, were moving the ball brilliantly against the Ghosts’ zone defense, resulting in easy looks for senior Dana Walsh, who scored seven points in the third as they pushed the lead up to nine until Boone put back a Peal miss with two seconds left.
“They did,” said Marsh on the Patriots’ textbook ball movement. “We didn’t want to play them man because we knew how good they are against man. We wanted to play a zone and force them to shoot outside and they came out in the first quarter and hit a couple. But then they started missing and we had our opportunities, but we couldn’t score. We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”
Boone knocked down a three from the top of the key to start the final frame and trim the deficit to four at 26-22, but 15 seconds later, on the very next possession, junior Amanda Germer buried a three to steal the momentum right back and start a 17-3 Patriots run that ultimately buried the Ghosts.
“They did hit some big shots,” said Marsh. “When Aj [Boone] finally hit a three, they came right back and hit one. That was huge, but they’re a good team and we knew that coming in, that they were going to be tough.”
Layton, one of six seniors playing in her final high school game, led the Ghosts (20-7) with eight points. She also added five rebounds. Both Boone and Leer finished with seven points. Peal contributed five points and 11 rebounds.
“I think we tried our best,” said Layton. “Our shots didn’t fall and Emily being kind of hurt really hurt us. I think we tried our best, but we’re better than how we played tonight.”
Walsh and Germer each scored a game-high 14 points to lead Great Valley (23-4), which advances to a first-round state playoff game on Tuesday against the second seed from District 2.
GREAT VALLEY 50, ABINGTON 31
Great Valley (50)—Germer 4 3-4 14; Beirnes 0 0-1 0; Govan 3 2-2 8; O’Malley 4 2-2 12; Walsh 4 6-6 14; Schinski 1 0-0 2; Hagar 0 0-0 0; Sugalski 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 13-15 50.
Abington (31)—Layton 4 0-0 8; Boone 3 0-0 7; Leer 3 1-2 7; Johns 0 0-0 0; Kelly 0 4-4 4; Peal 2 1-2 5; Shechtman 0 0-0 0; Strother 0 0-0 0; Schmidt 0 0-0 0; Longo 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 6-8 31.
Three-point goals: Germer 3, O’Malley 2; Boone
Great Valley 8 7 11 24—50
Abington 2 7 10 12—31
- Log in to post comments
0
