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Grasty wins No. 150 as Abington's stars roll Neshaminy

01/03/2018, 10:30pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Lucas Monroe (above) and Abington downed Neshaminy 72-49 on Wednesday night to stay unbeaten in SOL-National play. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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To make his way to 150 victories as head coach at Abington Senior High School, Charles Grasty gave the credit to the talented players who have worn Ghost uniforms during his now eight years in charge of the boys’ basketball program.

So it was fitting that victory No. 150 came on the backs of the two young athletes who are on their way to being Grasty’s best yet.

Juniors Eric Dixon and Lucas Monroe each had monster nights, propelling Abington to a 72-49 home win over previously-unbeaten Neshaminy on Wednesday night.

The pair of Division I prospects combined for 42 points and 30 rebounds, as Neshaminy didn’t have an answer for either.

Dixon, a 6-foot-7 forward with high-major offers -- Villanova coach Jay Wright was in attendance, having offered a scholarship earlier in the season -- had 23 points and 14 rebounds, but that’s become a normal performance for the impressive post player.

It was Monroe, a 6-5 wing who had a Big 5 coach of his own there recruiting him (Penn’s Steve Donahue), who busted out with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, as well as six assists, in a terrific all-around performance.

"I think one of my most valuable assets, because I can handle the ball and I'm also big, is rebounding and pushing it so I've been focusing on that,” he said afterwards. "I would like 16 rebounds every night, that wouldn't be bad -- I'm probably not going to get that every night, but I can try.”

Grasty knew that Monroe had played well -- he agreed it was the best official game that Monroe had played in his time at Abington -- but the coach was still a bit surprised at the stats.

“Sixteen boards? Wow,” he remarked when told the rebounding number. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen (Monroe) get 16 rebounds, but...yeah, he goes after it. He gets after it.”

A three-year starter, Monroe has been a promising prospect since his freshman year, with his size, length and smooth athleticism apparent early on. But unlike his classmate Dixon, who set the Abington freshman scoring record and has his sights on the school’s all-time scoring mark, Monroe has been slower to develop, mixing in some flashes of production and potential with too many quiet stretches.

He’s working hard to end that perception at an increasingly-crucial time for his collegiate prospects. Of his 16 rebounds, seven came on the offensive end; not counting team rebounds, Abington collected 22 of its own misses.

“I'm being more aggressive, not necessarily trying to score 30 points every game but trying to make plays, which makes it easier for Eric and Robbie and which makes it easier for Darious and Brandon and all the other guys,” he said. “It's something I focused on more this year because last year and my freshman year, I played a little more passive. I think the better I play, the better chance we have to win."

Dixon and Monroe were all over the glass early against Neshaminy, helping Abington take an astounding 25 shots in the first quarter, though the Ghosts made only six; even though they were 14-of-42 (.333) from the floor in the first half, they still held a 33-17 lead thanks to that dominance on the glass.

Monroe also was instrumental in helping Abington limit Neshaminy senior guard and Division I prospect Chris Arcidiacono to just eight points on 4-of-18 shooting. Monroe used his length and athleticism to keep Arcidiacono in front of him all night long, though senior guard Robbie Heath chipped in as well.

“We thought Lucas’ length could bother him a little bit,” Grasty said. “We thought that we just wanted to make him take tough shots; we knew he was going to take shots, we know he could score in bunches.”

"We've played against some great players so far this season (on) Bethlehem Catholic, Valley Forge, Neumann, Carroll, we've played against a lot of Division I players and he's another one,” Monroe said. “He had a great summer, he got a bunch of offers and we have a lot of respect for him. He's another challenge and I thought we handled it well."

The win moves Abington to 5-2, including 3-0 so far in Suburban One-National play. The defending District 1 6A champions have owned the SOL-National in recent history, and with the most talented starting five in the division, hopes are high yet again.

Handing Neshaminy (7-1, 1-1) its first loss of the season, and in such a fashion, wasn’t a coincidence.

“We've won five championships in a row and every year there's a new team that's supposed to beat us, but we want to set the tone early,” Monroe said. “We're 3-0 in the league now, we wanted to set the tone, we wanted to tell everyone else we don't care if they're second in the district, we don't care if they're 7-0.”


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