Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh will square off in the District One AAAA boys’ basketball final on Friday at Temple University (8 p.m.). Check back for photos and a complete game story.
Friday night at Temple University will belong to the Suburban One League.
All four teams playing in the girls/boys District One Class AAAA doubleheader are from the SOL – two are from the same school as Abington’s boys and girls teams both earned spots in their respective district final.
And unlike Wednesday night when the Ghost fans boarded a bus after the boys’ semifinal win over Pennsbury and made the trek to Council Rock South for the girls’ semifinal, the Abington faithful can arrive early and stay late as both of their teams will be playing for gold at the Liacouras Center.
“The community is super excited for both the boys and girls team,” coach Charles Grasty said. “Right after our game with Pennsbury at Temple, we jumped on the bus to watch the girls play their game at CR South. We got there at halftime but got a chance to help celebrate their win.
“There is a lot of buzz in the community with all the social media like twitter and Facebook. I’m not into any of that, but the kids are and so is the community. We share the same gym with the girls – and it is great to have us all in one building to play for district championships.”
The SOL National Conference Champion Ghosts bring an 18-game winning streak into Friday’s game against perennial SOL power Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Ghosts last loss came on Dec. 29 at the hands of Lower Merion. Since then, they’ve been on a bona fide tear.
So have the Colonials, who served early notice that they might be onto something special when they sprinted out of the gate to an 11-0 start that included some impressive wins.
“It’s been one of those years where quietly early on I got a sense that we could be pretty good,” coach Jim Donofrio said. “Every coach gets a sense of what’s possible reality-wise in the first month, but when we beat Friends Central, Chester and Washington those three games in a row, I realized then – I think we have a legitimate shot at hopefully doing something and knocking on the door.
“What has to happen in my opinion is – as the season winds down and the games start to gather more meaning, you then look and see how your team handles the spotlight moment. The first thing, of course, was are you going to win all the games you need to win to secure a league title in opposing rivals’ houses, and we did that. I’ve seen them in the last month raise their confidence level.”
Both teams have marquee players on their roster. For the Ghosts, it’s senior Matt Penecale and junior Amir Hinton, who average 13.7 and 19.7 points a game respectively. Penecale is the playmaker with 191 assists to go along with 186 rebounds. On the other side of the court, the Colonials feature the backcourt trio of Andre Mitchell, Jimmy Murray and Xzavier Malone, who average 45 points between them and have combined for 102 three-pointers.
Cam Johnson has been the ‘x’ factor for the Colonials, patrolling the paint and averaging seven rebounds a game.
“Probably the least acknowledged guy in Suburban One of the major teams might be Cameron Johnson,” Donofrio said. “He’s a three-year varsity starter along with Andre (Mitchell), and Jimmy (Murray) is a two-year guy, so you have eight years of starting experience there, and they’re all talented.
“When you see teams that come this far, you usually see a core of two or three guys that have been together a couple of years or more. That’s what it takes.”
The SOL American Conference champion Colonials added an important piece with the addition of Malone, a junior transfer.
“A lot of people said, ‘You just add this guy in, and it makes it easy,’” Donofrio said. “Trust me, we have gone through a whole lot of learning curve.
“For us to have a chance to take this any further deep into states, these guys know they have to be great throughout a game at some moments, and what’s fun is they’re doing it.”
Tip-off for what promises to be a classic battle between the SOL powers is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Plymouth Whitemarsh Starting Lineup
#5 Xzavier Malone, Jr., 6-4, Guard (14.8 ppg., 34 3-pointers)
#11 Jimmy Murray, Sr., 6-0, Guard (14.5 ppg., 48 3-pointers)
#21 Devon Monteiro-Gray, Sr., 6-4, Forward
#24 Cameron Jones, Sr., 6-2, Forward (7 rebounds a game)
#32 Andre Mitchell, Sr., 6-1, Point Guard (15.4 ppg. 20 3-pointers)
Abington Starting Lineup
Amir Hinton, Sr., 6-4, Guard (19.7 ppg., 231 rebounds, 75 assists)
Matt Penecale, Sr., 6-3, Guard (13.7 ppg., 186 rebounds, 191 assists)
Robbie Heath, Fr., 5-10, Guard (8.8 ppg., top 3-point shooter)
Brendan Gallagher, Sr., 6-2, Forward (2.8 ppg., 162 rebounds)
Brian Close, Jr., 6-4, Forward (1.5 ppg.)
Off the Bench:
Jack Steinman, Jr. 6-5, Center (2.9 ppg., 21 charges taken)
BJ James, Jr., 6-0, Guard (1.1 ppg., defensive specialist)
Curtis Lochner, Sr., 5-10 (2.0 ppg.)
Road To The District Championship Game:
# 6 Abington:
Defeated # 27 North Penn 59-58 * Hinton 19 * Penecale 17
Defeated # 11 Chester 55-47 * Hinton 19 * Penecale 17
Defeated # 3 Pennridge 58-47 * Hinton 22 * Penecale 21
Defeated # 7 Pennsbury 49-40 * Hinton 25 * Penecale 9
Fast facts:
- This is Abington’s first trip to the District One AAAA title game since 1986 when the Ghosts defeated Ridley to capture the district crown. Head coach Charles Grasty was in eighth grade.
- Fourth season in a row Ghosts have advanced to states under Grasty, who is in his fifth season.
- Advanced to state semifinals last year after falling to Chester in the quarterfinals of districts.
- Ghosts have won 18 straight entering Friday’s district title game.
Coach Charles Grasty says: “We watched film on Plymouth Whitemarsh and was very impressed with what we saw. They really get after it – they play hard – and they play together. They are like us in that they have good role players. Malone, Mitchell, and Murray are all good – but Johnson does a lot for them. We are going to have to match their intensity – make them play our tempo – and play smart basketball. A keys to the game will be whether or not we can handle their pressure and how well we play defensively.”
# 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh:
Defeated # 29 Cheltenham 73-43 * Mitchell 29 points * Malone 12 points * Murray 12 points.
Defeated # 20 Springfield Delco 49-35 * Mitchell 15 * Murray 11.
Defeated # 12 Lower Merion 47-36 * Malone 15 * Mitchell 13 * Murray 11
Defeated # 9 Ridley 44-41 * Malone 19 * Murray 12 * Mitchell 10.
Fast facts:
- First trip to the District One AAAA since 2010 when Colonials lost to Penn Wood but then went on to capture the state title.
- Advanced to district title game in 2007 but lost to Chester.
- Last won the District One AAAA title in 1998 with a win over Hatboro-Horsham
- Under Donofrio, the Colonials have been to one state final, three state semifinals, seven district semifinals and three district finals.
- Won eight in a row since a Jan. 24 loss to William Penn-York, winning those eight games by an average of 22 points.
Coach Jim Donofrio says: “Now that you’re here, your total focus is to win games, and that’s it. It’s high stakes, it’s high emotion, and you don’t have any other choice. You hear coaches sometimes say, ‘Hey, we got this far.’ We’re not a ‘we got this far’ group. I don’t think coach Grasty is either, which is what makes this probably a high intensity event (Friday) night.”
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