Wissahickon and Abington captured tournament titles. Check out all of Wednesday’s action. To view action photos of Wissahickon's title game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
We Are The Champions!
Abington (7-1) made the trek to Altoona PA and captured the Altoona Classic with a thrilling 71-68 overtime victory over Allentown Central Catholic in the tournament final. The Ghosts had beaten host Altoona 70-54 in the opening round.
“It was a great two-day trip for us in a lot of ways,” said Abington head coach Charles Grasty. “We were able to win the tournament, and we were able to have some great team bonding with the players on the team. Right after we won the championship, the kids got a chance to go out to the mall and just have some fun.”
Abington had a superlative tournament turned in by Anthony Durham, who was voted tournament MVP. Durham – who scored 25 points in the win over Altoona – scored 29 points in the tournament final against ACC. Jordan Simmons was voted to the all-tournament team as well.
“Anthony shot 10-for-13 in the first game and 12-for-15 in the second game – that’s amazing,” said Grasty. “And Jordan scored some points, but he really played well on the defensive end of the floor.”
The championship would not have been possible without the heroics of Mike Griffin who drilled a 3-point field goal at the buzzer to force overtime.
“The facility here was tremendous,” said Grasty of the 3500-seat Altoona complex. “It was like a mini-college trip for the players, and it was an exciting couple of days.”
And the Ghosts will add another trophy – the 2011 Altoona Classic trophy – to the Abington trophy case.
Abington Ghosts 8 22 20 10 11 - 71
Allentown Catholic 10 19 17 14 8 - 68
Wissahickon (7-1) hosted and won its Trojan Classic Tournament with a convincing 86-69 victory over Philadelphia Public League opponent Frankford.
“This was a great feeling for our seniors to win this game and show that they can measure up with the city schools,” said Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson. “We have a tough game with La Salle (Thursday) and we will try to ride this tide of momentum going into that game.”
Wissahickon will have played three games in as many days with the tournament wins over Lansdale Catholic and Frankford and Thursday’s game with La Salle.
“For the coaches, it can be a pain in the butt trying to prepare for each game,” said Wilson. “But I’m sure that the players love it. No practice – just play every day. And so far, so good.”
The Trojans received still another spectacular scoring effort from senior Jordan Reed, who poured home 39 points. Tanoh Kpassagnon also scored in twin digits with 17 points, while Gordon Bentley nailed a trio of 3-pointers and scored 11 points.
“We have gotten big scoring nights from Jordan, but the team has been really good about sharing the rock,” said Wilson. “Players like Kyle Garrett goes out every game and does all the little things. And it is from efforts like his that we have been successful this season.”
And it is why the Trojans will add another trophy – the 2011 Wissahickon Trojan Classic trophy – to its trophy case.
Wissahickon Trojans 18 19 19 30 - 86
Frankford Pioneers 9 14 18 28 - 69
Florida Dreaming
Central Bucks East (3-3) opened its three-game holiday visit to the Sunshine State with a 57-48 victory over West Broward (Fla) in a KSA tournament held in Orlando. The Patriots led by 10 at the half, 20 by the close of the third period, and cruised to the win. Ryan O’Neil led East with a game-high 20 points, while Matt Stauffer (14) and Steve Topley (12) also scored in double figures. The Patriots will play Oldham County (Kentucky) in their next game.
Central Bucks East 12 14 21 10 - 57
West Broward (Fla) 4 12 11 21 - 48
Central Bucks West (5-1) opened its visit to the Sunshine State with a 39-37 victory over St. Andrews (Fla) in the Cobra Holiday Tournament. Sherrod Higginbotham buried a three-pointer with less than two seconds left in the game to secure the win for the Bucks. Derek Dyer led West with a 13-point scoring effort, while Tyler Schechter and Sam Lis each scored seven points for the Bucks.
Central Bucks West 5 13 11 10 - 39
St. Andrews (Fla) 5 10 9 13 - 37
The Rest of the Story
Pennridge (5-3) lost in the Boyertown Bear Classic finalas the Rams were gouged by the host Bears – 81-71. The senior tandem of Tim Abruzzo and Andrew Lyons was not enough to sustain an eight-point Pennridge lead at the half. Abruzzo finished with a team-high 25 points while Lyons scored in twin digits for the Rams with 23 points.
Pennridge Rams 12 24 15 20 - 71
Boyertown Bears 11 17 30 23 - 81
Norristown (3-4) lost in the Triangle Club Tournament final as the Eagles fell to champion Central Dauphin – 52-48. Norristown was led is scoring by Luke Kelly with a game-high 20 points, while Jahbri Hargrove added 10 points for the Birds. Wake Forest-bound senior Devin Thomas scored 19 points for the Rams and was named MVP. Souderton (4-3) won its consolation game in the Triangle Club Tournament with a 68-51 victory over Dobbins Tech.
Norristown Eagles 11 8 17 12 - 48
Central Dauphin Rams 15 17 12 8 - 52
Upper Merion (2-4) opened its Lower Moreland Tournament appearance with an 80-48 rout over Morrisville. James Mobley –who has scored over 30 twice in four appearances this season – led the Vikings with a 33-point effort. Patrick Stringfield added 18 points for Upper Merion, while Connor McGrath scored in twin digits with 12 markers.
Upper Merion Vikings 22 24 16 18 - 80
Morrisville Bulldogs 12 10 9 17 - 48
Upper Dublin (6-2) opened its Cardinal Classic with a 53-31 victory over Phil-Mont Christian. The Flying Cardinals had a double-double registered by Andrew Carber who scored a game-high 16 points and collected 11 rebounds. John Decamara scored in twin digits for UD with 14 points, while Darrell Harrison added 11 points for the winners.
Upper Dublin Cardinals 12 14 19 8 - 53
Phil Mont Christian 9 9 8 5 - 31
North Penn (2-4) won the consolation game of the Chris Smith Memorial Tournament as the Knights defeated William Tennent (2-5) – 53-42. North Penn featured a pair of twin digit scorers as Wes Brooks led with a game-high 16 points and Chris Dawson scored 11 points for the winners. William Tennent was led in scoring by Jack Rauchut with a game-high 16 points while Horace Spencer added 10 points for the Black Cats.
North Penn Knights 11 18 12 12 - 53
William Tennent Panthers13 8 11 10 - 42
Harry S Truman (3-5) won the consolation game of the Wissahickon Trojan Classic with a 44-39 victory over Lansdale Catholic. Truman erased a five-point LC lead going into the fourth period to secure the win. Merdic Green had a double-double for the Tigers with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Mike Mintah scored seven points, collected six rebounds, and had four blocked shots for Truman.
Truman Tigers 9 8 11 16 - 44
Lansdale Catholic 8 12 13 6 - 39
Upper Moreland (5-2) lost in the Great Valley Tournament final to host Great Valley – 75-60. The Golden Bears had a pair of players score in double figures. Nick Corbett led Upper Moreland with an 18-point scoring effort, while Matt Kohn added 13 points for the Bears.
Upper Moreland 16 15 18 11 - 60
Great Valley 14 22 20 19 - 75
Quakertown (1-7) lost in the consolation game of the Parkland Tournament as the Panthers were caged by Perkiomen Valley – 49-33. The Panthers were led in scoring by Corey Jorgensen with 12 points, while Steffan Spieker added nine points for the Black Cats.
Quakertown Panthers 5 6 13 9 - 33
Perkiomen Valley Vikings14 8 16 11 - 49
Hatboro-Horsham (1-5) lost the opening round game in the Hazelton Tournament as the Hatters lost to Bangor – 58-53. Hatboro-Horsham will meet Pleasant Valley in a consolation game today. The Hatters were led in scoring by Ryan Kelly who scored a team-high 16 points while Paul Haggerty scored 11 points.
Hatboro-Horsham 7 10 17 19 - 53
Bangor 8 17 12 21 - 58
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-3) lost to the Maryland state runner-up in a 54-35 loss to Patterson (Md) at Widener University. Anthony McKie scored a team-high 15 points and was the lone double figure scorer for the Colonials. Plymouth Whitemarsh will continue its out-of-state schedule at Widener when the Colonials meet Sanford Delaware today.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8 10 9 8 - 35
Patterson 20 10 12 12 - 54
- Log in to post comments
