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District 1 6A: Heath leads Abington to second district title in three years

03/05/2017, 12:45am EST
By Graham Foley

Robbie Heath (above) had 30 points as Abington won the District 1 title for the second time in three years. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Graham Foley (@graham_foley3)
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In order to win its second district title in three years, Abington turned to the one player who had been there before.

Tied at the end of three quarters in a tense and electric atmosphere at Villanova’s Pavilion, junior guard Robbie Heath took over the game and delivered a victory for his team.

“This is what you play for,” Heath said. “I took the opportunity, made some plays, and we eventually got the lead and we held the lead. It’s just my hard work finally paying off.”

His 19 second-half points allowed Abington to knock off the Ches-Mont champion Coatesville Red Raiders 57-51 and capture the District 1 6A title.

It’s the second district championship in three years for the Ghosts, who took down Plymouth-Whitemarsh in the 2015 game.

“It’s awesome, it’s something that the community, they’ll remember for a long time,” head coach Charles Grasty said. “We tell them to embrace it -- it’s here, it’s the reality, don’t run away from it, embrace it.”

The home of the defending NCAA National Champions was filled nearly to capacity and boiled over with passion from both sides. It was a primetime event that drew masses from both schools and both communities.

With the Abington girls basketball team winning the District 1 6A championship just minutes before the boys took the court, the Galloping Ghosts’ fans were already rocking and the student section filled up half of the Villanova student bleachers. It created a special atmosphere.

“Our student section comes everywhere,” said Heath, who was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia but came to Abington follow in the footsteps of his father, former Ghost great Robert “Tiger” Heath. “They came to Bensalem, Neshaminy, we always have a great student section. Them filling up half of the bloody stadium is great.”

Abington (24-4) will now take on Central Dauphin East (16-10) in the 6A state tournament. Coatesville (23-5) will continue its season in the 6A state tournament by taking on Carlisle (18-8). Both games will be next Saturday, Mar. 11.

The game was a nail biter for three quarters with both teams trading blows and trading leads. Coatesville led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 24 at halftime, and it remained knotted at the end of the third quarter at 33.

But Abington came out swinging in the fourth. The quarter started with a fiery 11-0 run that began with an electrifying alley-oop dunk from senior forward Joseph O’Brien that sent the white-out Abington student section into a frenzy.

Then, it became the Robbie Heath show.

First, a long transition pass found Heath open to hit a tough layup and get the foul with it, pumping up the already crazy Abington crowd.

In the next two possessions, Heath was found again on transition passes down the court and both times was fouled as he tried to make the layup.

Before long, the Ghosts led 44-33.

“Fourth quarter, we really came out with a lot of energy,” Heath said. “We just attacked. Coach was saying one, two, three passes, they’ll play defense but if we do the plays and keep attacking them, they’ll fold.”

Heath finished with 30 pts, matching his total in Abington’s 71-67 victory over Plymouth Whitemarsh in the Suburban-One league final on Feb. 28. It was more than he thought he’d wound up with.

“I scored 30? Damn,” he said. “I just got caught up in the moment and was focused on making the right plays at the right times to get the win.”

Heath did have some help. Sophomore forward Eric Dixon added 11 pts, the only other player to reach double digits in scoring. He rounded out his double-double night with a team-high 13 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Lucas Monroe and senior forward Joseph O’Brien added six points each.

Senior guard Rob Young tacked on three points while also grabbing two steals and one rebound. He also had one very important assist when the lob he threw to O’Brien turned into a game-changing dunk.  

Young has been on the Abington team for all four years of his high school career. However, it was just last year that he became a primary part of the team’s rotation. He has been a leader on the defensive end of the ball this season.

“It means a lot, because it’s my second district championship and the first one I actually played in and had a lot to do with,” Young said. “Just kept the defensive pressure up and just made plays.”

“I told Rob Young, it’s been four years, this is what you waited for,” Grasty said. “He’s a captain, he can pretty much run our practices, he knows what we want, he knows our stuff and it’s just great to see that he was a big part of this.”

Coatesville held its own and played a back and forth back through three quarters. The team came out hot shooting 6-of-10 from the field in the first quarter. The Red Raiders continued to battle and saw six players finish with five or more points.

Coatesville’s freshmen superstars truly led the way.

Freshman guard Jhamir Brickus led his team in scoring with 12 pts and tacked on four steals on the night. Freshman guard DaPree Bryant was next finishing with 10 pts and five assists.

With only two seniors and superstar underclassmen, Coatesville is a young and talented team that could find its way back to the District 1 finals in the coming years.

But both teams still have work to do before this year is done.

“We’ll enjoy the win, we’ll enjoy tonight and then Monday we’ll get back to work,” Grasty said. “We’ll do some fun things early in the week and then we’ll get back to business and get ready for states on Saturday.”


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