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WARMINSTER – Emily Leer could not hold back the tears as she reflected on the ending, an ending that came without warning for an Abington team with its sights set well beyond Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game against Red Lion.“It shouldn’t have ended like this,” Leer said after the Ghosts had fallen 44-42 in double overtime. “We should have ended it on our terms. This wasn’t on our terms.”
In truth, there was absolutely nothing about Friday night’s quarterfinal game that was on Abington’s terms as the Lions imposed their will on the Ghosts from the outset. The Ghosts never really had an answer for the Lions’ intensity or relentless fullcourt pressure defense.
“They wanted to get us into a physical, turnover type game, and they were able to do it,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “They hit some big shots.”
The Lions won it in dramatic fashion on an Erica Maciejewski hook shot with two seconds remaining in the second OT, but the biggest bucket of the night was the Lions’ desperation three with four seconds remaining in regulation by junior Tayler Huson to knot the score and send the game into overtime.
It was the first field goal of the night for Huson, and it marked the first tie since the two teams were deadlocked 4-4 midway through the opening quarter.
The big bucket came on the Lions’ third three-point attempt of their final possession as the Ghosts could not come up with a rebound when they needed it most.
“I think we got tired,” Marsh said. “I really do. I think they wore us down. I don’t know why we couldn’t finish with the rebounding.
“I’m at a loss for words. I think we’re a better team than they are. I don’t know.”This game was a struggle from the opening tap for the Ghosts, who appeared to hold an advantage at just about every position but couldn’t capitalize and never found anything close to a rhythm.
“This is what I saw on tape, and it came to fruition,” Marsh said. “Their pressure is not better than Cheltenham’s, but it’s so erratic and so relentless that you get caught up in doing dumb things.
“They never let us get into a flow, they never let us get the ball inside. We didn’t do anything we wanted to do.”
“It was definitely their pressure,” Leer added. “We saw that on game film and had a game plan to remain calm and use passes and not panic.
“We didn’t execute our game plan tonight. We let their pressure and physicality get to us and force turnovers.”
There were actually early signs of trouble for the Ghosts, who couldn’t buy a basket. They missed some easy shots inside and didn’t get on the scoreboard until Leer found Aiyannah Peal (13 points) for a basket in close at the 4:15 mark. The Lions weren’t exactly lighting it up either and led by just a 4-2 score.
A bucket by Chynna West knotted the score, and the Ghosts had their first lead after Peal banked a shot home (6-4). That lead grew to 8-4 after a Leer drive, but a three by Sarah Innerst made it an 8-7 game after one quarter.
“We struggled getting the ball where it should have been,” said Leer, who led the Ghosts with 14 points, 10 blocks and nine rebounds. “We didn’t go inside at all. We did it twice in the first quarter, and it was done. We never went back down there.
“For us to have such a size advantage over them and not take advantage of it – that is just kind of silly of us. If we would have gone in a couple of more times, who knows what would have happened. I just think composure was the biggest key to the game. We just started playing sloppy.”
When Leer sank a three-pointer from the top of the circle, the Ghosts led 11-7, but they could not put distance between themselves and the Lions and still led by just a 17-14 score at halftime.
The Ghosts opened the second half with back-to-back buckets. First it was West (10 points) going coast to coast for a layup, and after a Red Lion turnover, Leer connected on a foul line jumper to put the Ghosts on top 21-14.
That seven-point lead was short-lived as the Lions made it a 21-18 game after a Gisselle Truiett putback. The Ghosts took a 26-23 lead into the final quarter, but Leer – who picked up her fourth foul with 31 seconds remaining in the third period – was on the bench.Abington opened the fourth quarter with an 8-3 run that included Leer – who returned at the 6:36 mark - scoring on a spin move as well as Peal finding West for a pair of buckets. The run culminated with Peal – who was whistled for her fourth foul midway through the quarter - scoring on a short pull-up that put the Ghosts on top 34-26 with 3:30 remaining in the game.
Then came another forgettable stretch for the Ghosts that began with Truiett burying a three on her team’s second shot of the ensuing possession. That was followed by three consecutive Ghost turnovers – the first on a double dribble and the next two on the press, and just like that, it was a 34-33 game.
“I knew we weren’t playing like the team we could be,” Leer said. “We wanted to dig down and get it together and play with our heads on our shoulders, but we just had a hard time not panicking, and it was just really upsetting to see that.”
It looked like an Abington win might be in the books after Leer sank a pair at the foul line with 38 seconds remaining, but three chances allowed the Lions to knot the score, sending the game into overtime.
“That just shows how panicked we were,” Leer said of the Lions’ multiple shots. “The fact that they got that many rebounds – we were so frantic that we weren’t doing the simple fundamentals of basketball.”
Twice the Ghosts went on top in the first overtime. Both times the Lions knotted the score. The Lions held the ball for the final two minutes but missed their only shot for the win.
In the second OT, Truiett, who also was playing with four fouls, scored the go-ahead basket, but Leer answered for the Ghosts. The Lions misfired on a shot with 1:38 remaining, and Leer pulled down the rebound, but a turnover gave the ball back to the Lions, who won it on Maciejewski’s hook shot with two seconds remaining.“I just think that composure could have gotten us the win tonight – not letting their pressure defense get to us,” Leer said. “It just shouldn’t have been like this.
“I think we’re a Final Four team, and I know if we would have played like we have been playing, we would have been able to win.”
NOTES: All but lost in the shuffle was the subpar foul shooting by both teams. The two teams combined to miss eight straight to open the fourth quarter – four by each team. In that span, the Ghosts missed the front end of a pair of one-and-ones. Abington was just 4-of-13 from the foul line for the game while the Lions were 6-of-15…In the final three minutes of the regulation and two overtimes, the Ghosts turned the ball over seven times. The Lions had just one turnover during that same span.
RED LION 44, ABINGTON 42 (2 OTs)
Red Lion 7 7 9 13 4 4-44
Abington 8 9 9 10 4 2-42
Red Lion (44) – Jill Dennes 2 0-2 4; Erica Maciejewski 5 1-4 11; Sarah Innerest 3 2-2 9; Gisselle Truiett 5 2-2 14; Bailey Fuentes 0 0-0 0; Hannah Brilhart 0 0-0 0; Taylor Flatau 1 0-3 2; Taylor Huson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 6-15 44.
Abington (42) – Jamie Shectman 1 0-0 2; Chynna West 5 0-3 10; Jessica Schmidt 1 0-2 2; Aiyannah Peal 6 1-2 13; Emily Leer 5 3-6 14; Sheila Longo 0 0-0 0; Sarah Listenbee 0 0-0 0; Carli Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 4-13 42.
3-point goals: Red Lion – Truiett 2, Huson, Innerst. Abington – Leer, Shectman.
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