By Scott Huff
Celebrated – historic – iconic.
These are words that depict the Abington High School gymnasium found on 970 Highland Avenue in Abington.
And for five Ghost seniors – Vincent Tranquillo, Jordan Monroe, DJ McFadden, Wesley Rines, and Julian Keys – the curtain will close on their respective high school careers on that ancient hardwood.
Abington will host Senior Night on Tuesday for its quintet of seniors when the Ghosts play host to the William Tennent Panthers.
“It really hasn’t hit me that I am a senior, and that this is my last home game,” said Monroe who has been hampered all season with an injury. “My high school years have gone by quickly.”
“I really don’t feel like a senior,” said Tranquillo. “We have had what I would call a disappointing season, but we have had a lot of fun. I can’t believe that it is almost over.”
Abington head coach Charles Grasty had nothing but great things to say about his graduating seniors.
“The seniors I had this season were coming into a tough spot,” said Grasty, who is in his first year of varsity coaching for the Ghosts. “They deserved most of the playing time, and they got it.
“Jordan Monroe is a great team player who has hung in there with his injury,” added Grasty. “He is a very good defensive player, and he is a quiet kid who leads by example.
“Vincent Tranquillo is also a quiet kid – but a leader on the floor and in the locker room,” continued Grasty. “He has a 4.2 grade point average in the classroom, and has a great basketball IQ as well.”
Grasty will miss each and every one of his seniors, but the coach does have a huge building block in sophomore Jordan Simmons.
“Jordan is becoming the player that we always thought we could be,” said Grasty. “He is a very young sophomore – only 15 – and it seems like one morning he woke up and became the player that we wanted him to be.
“Jierre Morrisey, Chris Ruhl, and Mike Travor are all underclassmen that are going to gain from the experience they got this year,” added Grasty.
And that experience was gained from the players’ practice/game time on the antiquated Abington hardwood.
“There has been a lot of great basketball games played in that gym,” said Grasty – an Abington graduate who also played on the floor. “There really isn’t anything like it in the area.
“It really is like the (Penn) Palestra (in Philadelphia) in that it is old and has a lot of history,” added Grasty of the court with the freestanding baskets in the airplane hanger building. “I have been coming to games there since I was two years old, and it was then that I knew that I wanted to be part of the program.
“I remember running up ad down the hall where the snack stand is shooting a balled up sock into trash cans with my friends,” continued Grasty. “We would play two-on-two and pretend to be the Abington players that we saw playing in the game.
“We saw players like Junie Lewis, Bob Heath, Shocky Vaughn, and Sam Rines,” added Grasty. “We would sit in the front row, run in front of the bench, and get high fives from them.”
“I remember growing up and coming to the Abington games,” said Tranquillo. “There was a great atmosphere coming into this gym when I was a young fan, and it has continued as a player.”
“I really feel comfortable shooting in this gym,” said Monroe. “The lights here are great, and it is a great place to see the basket.”
Monroe, Tranquillo, McFadden, Rines, and Keys will have just one more chance to drive to the hoop in the legendary gymnasium.
“I had a long talk with Jim Wilkenson about basketball over the Christmas holiday,” said Grasty in reference to the renowned Ghost head coach. “It was an emotional visit to say the least.
“I told him how hard it was going to be losing the seniors,” added Grasty who played under Wilkenson. “And he told me that the seniors must all move on – and so do I.”
Abington seniors will come and go – so do Ghost head coaches.
But that aged gymnasium on 970 Highland Avenue will still – somehow – always be there.
Abington-William Tennent Preview
In the first meeting between Abington and William Tennent, the Ghosts (7-13, 2-9) needed double overtime to defeat the Panthers (6-14, 1-11) – 74-70.
Abington trailed by 15 points going into the fourth quarter, but a rally led by senior Wesley Rines forced the first overtime. Rines – who scored 20 points - hit a pair of clutch three-point field goals to fuel the comeback.
Ghost senior guard DJ McFadden connected on five free throws in the overtime to secure the win. McFadden finished with a team-high 25 points.
William Tennent had a pair of terrific games turned in by Cole Weber and Jack Rauchut. Weber scored a game-high 28 points, while Rauchut added 26 points for the Panthers.
Abington Ghosts
#2 – Joshua Lee (5-9, Jr., Guard/Forward)
#3 – Darian McFadden (6-2, Sr., Guard/Forward)
#4 – Jiere Morrisey (6-1, Soph., Guard)
#5 – Wesley Rines (6-2, Sr., Guard)
#10 – Harrell Haneef (6-0, Jr., Guard)
#11 – Jordan Monroe (6-0, Sr., Guard)
#12 – Anthony Lee (5-8, Fr., Guard)
#22 – Vincent Tranquillo (6-2, Sr., Guard/Forward)
#23 – Jordan Simmons (6-2, Soph., Guard)
#24 – Dillon Tranquillo (5-9, Soph., Guard)
#30 – Mike Travor (6-3, Jr., Forward/Center)
#32 - Julian Keys (6-5, Sr., Center)
#33 – Tom Kennedy (5-9, Jr., Guard)
#34 – Nate Dixon (6-0, Jr., Forward)
#41 – Chris Ruhl (6-3, Jr., Forward/Center)
William Tennent Panthers
#2 – Chris Moore (5-9, Sr., Guard)
#5 – Shakat Kofa (5-10, Sr., Guard)
#10 – Ryan Smith (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#12 – Matt Alden (5-10, Fr., Guard)
#13 – Vinnie Case (5-9, Fr., Guard)
#15 – Tim Compton (6-2, Sr., Center)
#25 – Mike Wasserleben (5-10, Soph., Guard)
#30 – Connor Geiger (5-10, Jr., Forward)
#32 – Tyler Wuensche (6-2, Sr., Forward)
#33 – Jack Rauchut (6-4, Jr., Center)
#34 – Isaac Marc (6-0, Fr., Center)
#41 – Cole Weber (6-1, Sr., Guard)
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