To view action photos of the game, visit the Photo Gallery later this weekend and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Nate Oxman
Even after shining the brightest of the five honorees on Senior Night, all Wes Rines could do was commend everyone else who have been a part of the Abington boys’ basketball program during his four-year career.His fellow seniors. His underclassmen teammates. His coaching staff. Rines was thankful for them all.
“Honestly, I was just trying to have fun,” said Rines. “I came out in my last game, I was looking around the stands. I was glad to see my family and friends out there, all the coaches, all of my teammates. I couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere and I can’t even say how happy I am to end my career like that. I appreciate everything. I can’t say that enough.”
Rines echoed those sentiments throughout the post-game interview after dropping a game-high 23 points in a storybook Senior Night send-off Tuesday en route to a 69-54 Suburban One National Conference win over visiting William Tennent.
“Driving over here it really hit me,” said Rines. “I guess (it’s) the end of my high school career … I was really at awe. I was almost depressed before the game just thinking, ‘This is going to be my last time ever playing here.’ And I can’t say enough about Abington. I appreciate everything, everybody who came through the program, everybody who helped me out. I’m proud of my career. I improved every year and I’m glad I went out with a bang today.”
While Rines shined throughout, all five seniors made key contributions.
After trailing 5-0 at the start, senior DJ McFadden (15 points) knocked down a three to ignite a 12-0 run that included the first of six first-half steals from fellow senior Vincent Tranquillo, during which another senior, guard Jordan Monroe, provided the give-and-go reward back to Tranquillo for a bucket.
After promising sophomore guard Jordan Simmons (12 points) provided the team’s next seven points, the seniors simply took over the second quarter.Using a full-court zone press to force seven turnovers, the Ghosts turned an 18-12 deficit into a 32-25 halftime advantage.
“I thought we turned up the pressure a little bit in the second quarter,” said Abington coach Charles Grasty. “We were able to force Tennent into some turnovers and take them out of their flow. We wanted to keep the ball out of Rauchut’s hands because he’s a heck of a player. He plays hard. So we wanted to try to play up-tempo and make them turn the ball over.”
After scoring six points in the opening period, 6-foot-4 junior workhorse Jack Rauchut was held scoreless in the second quarter while the Ghosts sprinted up and down the court, converting turnovers into scores and grabbing defensive rebounds and quickly pushing the ball.
“That’s been our style all year to get out and go,” said Grasty. “Unfortunately we haven’t been able to rebound the way that we wanted to so we couldn’t get up and down the court. But when we’re playing our style of basketball it’s pretty fun to watch as a coach.”
The second-quarter stretch began with a great drive and dump-off from McFadden to Tranquillo for two, continued with a three-point bomb from Monroe, a driving hoop from McFadden, and then a three-point play from Rines.
That crowd-pleasing play started a streak of 10 points in a two-minute span by Rines, who showcased a variety of skills: speed in the open floor to outrace two Tennent defenders for a lay-up, deftness with the dribble to split a pair of Panthers at the top of their zone defense to free himself up for a short jumper, and the ability to find open spots in the Panthers’ zone and bury a three-point bucket.
While Rines went off in the quarter, he gave all of the credit to Tranquillo.
“Well Vince Tranquillo did a great job,” said Rines when asked what the key was to the second quarter outburst. “I think he had six steals in the first half. … I’m glad that he could get it going. He’s a senior too. All of our seniors contributed tonight. We all wanted it. We all got it. I had a great career with those guys. I really can’t say enough about them.”
Rines remained hot at the start of the second half, scoring seven of his team’s first nine points as the Ghosts stretched their lead to 16 at 41-25. The other two points in the 9-0 run came from fellow senior Julian Keys, who finished a hard drive to his right for two of his five points on the night.
Tennent’s Chris Ruhl canned a three to halt a scoreless stretch that lasted four minutes, 49 seconds going back to the 1:45 mark in the second quarter and kick-started a quick 8-0 run to pull the Panthers within eight at 41-33.
But a hard-earned three-point play by Keys and a pair of three-point buckets - one from Simmons and another from McFadden - pushed the lead back to 15 at 52-37.
“It was great to see all of our seniors score,” said Grasty. “Julian Keys had a nice and-one down there, some nice lay-ups. Keys is a great kid. He deserved to play well tonight in front of his family and friends who got to see what he can do.”
Both threes, the sixth and seventh of nine on the night for the Ghosts, came courtesy of textbook ball movement against the Panthers zone defense.
“We played very unselfish tonight,” said Grasty. “We made the extra pass. We tried to tell the players to make the extra pass and you’ll get an open shot and we made that extra pass tonight and we’re able to knock down a few.”
A pair of impressive hustle plays by Rauchut - a fierce drive down the lane for a three-point play and a tough offensive rebound and put-back - brought Tennent back within seven. But despite four more points in the period from the tireless Rauchut, who led his team with 19 points and 11 rebounds, the Panthers never pulled any closer.
“I felt like we played well in the beginning of the game, but then we came out in the second quarter and their press really crumpled us,“ said Rauchut, who poured in 26 points in the Panthers‘ 74-70 double-overtime loss at Tennent earlier this season. “In the fourth quarter we were forced to bounce back from that and make a big comeback. But we never stop working. Everyone on the team. Every practice. Every game.
“Our record doesn’t show how hard we work. We work just as hard as every other team, maybe even harder. There isn’t one player on our team who doesn’t try his hardest every game. In practice, everybody works really hard. We push ourselves. We push each other to get better every day.”
The loss dropped Tennent to 6-15 on the season, 1-12 in SOL National play heading into Friday’s final game vs. Pennsbury.
Abington improved to 8-13, 4-9 in SOL National play entering Friday’s season finale at Truman.“Wejust want to keep it going,” said Grasty, whose team may have an outside shot at qualifying for the district playoffs with a win. “We’re going to Truman on Friday. We’ll come to practice tomorrow, prepare for Truman, see if we can get Truman, and if we get Truman we’ll end up 5-5 in the last 10 games, so that’s been our goal--to get Truman Friday and then we’ll see what happens.”
William Tennent 16 9 15 14--54
Abington 12 20 20 17--69
William Tennent (54)--Shakat Kofa 2 0-0 4; Mike Wasserleben 1 2-2 5; Tyler Wuensche 0 3-4 3; Cole Weber 3 4-8 12; Jack Rauchut 8 3-3 19; Tim Compton 2 0-1 4; Connor Geiger 0 0-0 0; Ryan Smith 2 0-0 6; Matt Alden 0 1-2 1; Isaac Marc 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-20 54.
Abington (69)--Jordan Monroe 1 0-0 3; Darian McFadden 6 0-0 15; Wesley Rines 10 1-2 23; Vincent Tranquillo 2 1-2 5; Julian Keys 2 1-1 5; Jordan Simmons 4 2-4 12; Jiere Morrisey 1 1-2 4; Mike Travor 0 0-0 0; Chris Ruhl 1 0-0 2; Anthony Lee 0 0-0 0; Nate Dixon 0 0-0 0; Harrell Haneef 0 0-0 0; Joshua Lee 0 0-0 0; Dillon Tranquillo 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 6-11 69.
Three-point goals: Weber 2, Smith 2, Wasserleben; McFadden 3, Rines 2, Simmons 2, Monroe, Morrisey
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