Abington advanced to Saturday’s PIAA 6A quarterfinals with its win at Pocono Mountain West.
#1-8 ABINGTON 47, #11-2 POCONO MOUNTAIN WEST 43 (OT)
Abington is in the Sweet 16.
Not exactly a spot anyone could have imagined the Ghosts occupying as they needed five straight wins to close out the regular season to even sneak into the District One 6A Tournament as the 23rd seed in the 24-team field.
Yet here they are.
“(We’re) 17-11, creeping into the district playoffs,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “These guys – honestly, they deserve all of this.
“They buckled down at the end of the season, and they’ve been fighting ever since. Just like everybody else, kids got sick – at one point in December, seven kids had COVID at the same time. We’ve been to this spot before, but this year it seemed super, super hard.
“I was talking to (assistant coach) Gary Massey, and we were trying to figure out why. We had four games in four days to close out the season. We went through it like everybody else. I’m giving them all the props that I can for fighting and persevering.”
The Ghosts had to play the role of giant killer in Thursday’s PIAA 6A opener. Literally. And they did just that, limiting 6-10 senior Christian Fermin, a Virginia Commonwealth recruit, to 15 points, seven points below his season average. It was a key in the Ghosts’ win on Pocono Mountain West’s home court, which was a 102-mile road trip for Abington.
The Ghosts, who led 14-8 after one quarter, took a 27-15 lead into halftime and led 36-29 heading into the final quarter.
Abington was leading 38-31 with 5:16 remaining in the fourth quarter only to watch the Cardinals rally to tie the game with a 9-2 run to close out regulation. Deadlocked at 40-40, the Cardinals held the ball for the final 1:55, but their shot for the win came up short.
“We jumped out on them early and led – if not the entire first half – most of the first half,” Grasty said. “They made a monster run in the fourth quarter to tie it up. They hit two or three 3s. We came down and missed a shot. They held it for the last shot, and we defended it pretty well, and we ended up going into overtime.”
Fhenyx Scott scored the go-ahead basket with 2:08 to go, and with 1:12 remaining, Derrius Lucas converted an and-one to give the Ghosts a five-point lead.
“Fhenyx Scutt had a monster layup in overtime,” Grasty said. “He came down, took his man to the basket and finished strong, and then Derrius Lucas had a three-point play.”
Julian Pagan hit a three to trim the Ghosts’ lead to 45-43 with 37.3 seconds remaining. Connor Fields had just one basket, but it was a big one as he turned a pass from Derrius Lucas into a bucket with 25 seconds remaining to give the Ghosts their final margin of victory.
Jeremiah Lee led all scorers with 18 points and also had a pair of blocked shots.
“He was on fire in the first half,” Grasty said of his super sophomore. “He really opened the floor for us. He hit some 3s, and he went to the basket and had some layups. They definitely had to get out and guard him. He was able to be aggressive and get to the basket. He had a really good game.”
Scutt finished with 12 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field. Lucas contributed 11 points, nine rebounds (six offensive) and seven blocked shots, including a pair on Fermin.
Connor Fields led the Ghosts under the backboards, pulling down 11 rebounds and surpassing the 200-rebound mark for the season. He also had three steals. Jimmy Marino had four assists and no turnovers at point guard.
“Jimmy Marino played really well for us,” Grasty said. “He got us in our offense and kept us calm. That’s what he does for us. He doesn’t score a lot of points, and people don’t see what he does for us, but he kept us calm, kept us in our stuff.”
The Ghosts were 19-for-48 from the field (39.5 percent) and 6-for-16 from beyond the arc (37.5 percent), which included a 5-for-8 effort from long distance in the first half. As a team, Abington had 26 rebounds, 13 offensive.
Abington (17-11, 11-5 SOL) is scheduled to play District One champion Lower Merion in Saturday’s quarterfinal round at Bensalem.
Abington 14-13-9-4-7 47
Pocono Mountain West 8-7-14-11-3 43
Abington (47) – Jimmy Marino 1 0-0 3; Fhenyx Scutt 6 0-0 12; Jeremiah Lee 7 1-1 18; Connor Fields 1 1-2 3; Derrius Lucas 5 1-2 11. TOTALS 20 3-5 47.
Pocono Mountain West (43) – Julian Pagan 5 0-0 15; Justin Love 3 1-2 9; Ethan Sakwa 2 0-0 4; Christian Fermin 5 4-5 15. TOTAL 15 5-7 43.
3 point goals: Abington – Jimmy Marino, Jeremiah Lee 3. Pocono Mtn West – Julian Pagan 5, Justin Love 2, Christian Fermin.
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