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Abington locks down Upper Moreland to begin push for districts

01/25/2022, 11:30pm EST
By Zak Wolf

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)

There’s a reason Abington head coach Charles Grasty is always yelling at his players from the sideline. It’s because he expects them to play hard on the defensive end, no matter who they have on the floor and who they’re playing against. It’s something that he instilled into every single one of his teams during his lengthy tenure at Abington High School.

His team took that to heart on Tuesday night, defeating Upper Moreland 42-24. The Ghosts had lost two straight games coming into the contest, so they knew they couldn’t come out flat.

“Like coach always says, after a loss we don’t care about our previous record, we’re coming into the game 0-0, time to bring some new energy see what guys can do,” senior Derrius Lucas said. 


Derrius Lucas (above) and Abington put in a defensive clinic against Upper Moreland on Tuesday. (Photo: Zak Wolf/CoBL)

Abington played lockdown defense all night long, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game, where it was needed the most. Abington had led for most of the game, but Upper Moreland cut the lead to 24-20 with a couple minutes left in the third. That’s when Abington turned it up a notch, and locked down defensively for the rest of the game.

The Ghosts finished the third on a 4-0 to lead 28-20 heading into the final quarter. In the fourth, Abington didn’t allow a single basket until just under a minute left, when the game was already out of reach. Abington went on a 18-0 run at one point, which helped them seal the win and improve to 8-6 on the season. 

“They’re going to play hard no matter what the lead is and they’re going to make you take tough shots,” Grasty said. “We pride ourselves on our defense and defense turns into some easy baskets”

Abington needed to get out in transition when Upper Moreland turned to a zone in the second quarter, which slowed the game down and made it more difficult to score. Abington tried to speed the game up and make it more about transition rather than a half court chess match. 

The Ghosts took advantage of a couple turnovers in the first half, which led to thunderous dunks from Lucas, a 6-foot-5 wing, to get his team fired up.

“Certain teams like to play us in zone and the key to beating a zone is defense,” Lucas said. “If we get stops, kick it up the court and hurry up and get back it helps. We try our best not to let them set up in their zone.”

Lucas led all scorers with 14 points and was the key for his team to try and dissect the zone when Abington wasn’t able to get easy looks in transition. Lucas sat in the middle of the zone, facing up to the basket when he got the ball and when he didn’t have a shot he kicked it to one of his open teammates. 

“We put him in the high post to get some touches,” Grasty said. “He was very unselfish in the high post, kicking it and swinging it, reversing it and then he picked his spots. When he picked his spots, he was able to score for us and that helped us build that lead.” 

Like the rest of his team, Lucas brought energy on the defensive end, using his long wingspan to block three shots. He was matched up with Matt Tiernan (Juniata), someone who he’s been competing against ever since he started playing basketball. The two went at it, with Tiernan finishing with a team-high 12 points for Upper Moreland.  

Lucas has been patiently waiting for a season like this where he can become a focal point of the team and one of the key leaders.

“We talked and we knew we had all summer to work,” Grasty said. “He knew that he was going to be one of the leaders on this team and I think he embraced the role. We’ve got 8 games left and he’s gotta take it up another notch. I think has it in him.” 

Abington had three other players score eight points, all of whom made solid contributions. Senior Connor Fields was able to use his speed and length to get inside, while sophomore Jerimiah Lee provided a scoring spark off the bench. Lee, who’d been starting the past few games, was moved to the bench to bring some energy. 

Fhenyx Scutt provided some outside shooting that was needed against the zone, knocking down two triples, but he also did an excellent job on the defensive end. Scutt helped keep Upper Moreland point guard Byron Hopkins to just five points and only one field goal, which came in the first quarter.  

“He’s probably one of the guys on the team with the most heart, takes pride in his defense, up and down the court,” Lucas said. “One thing he says is that he’s not going to let anybody score on.” 

Grasty always has his teams playing their best basketball down the stretch and as the regular season begins to wind down, it’s getting to that time. Abington (8-6) currently sits No. 28 in District 1 6A, with 24 teams making the playoffs, but there’s still plenty of time left for Abington to climb the rankings. 

The next three games could be crucial in deciding their fate this season, with three league rivals in a row, all of whom are ranked inside the top 24: Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday, Upper Dublin on Friday and Wissahickon next Tuesday. 

“We’ve just got to lock in,” Grasty said. “Defensively we’ve got to continue play hard, we’ve got to share the ball, trust each other, we’ve had some tough losses earlier, but this is when you want to start playing your best basketball, so if we could turn it around and start playing our best basketball, this is a great time.”

By Quarter
Abington:              9   |  13  |   6   |  14  ||  42
Upper Moreland:  8   |   4   |   8   |   4   ||  24

Scoring
Abington: Lucas 14, Scutt 8, Fields 8, Lee 8, Ingram 2, Dorman 2 

Upper Moreland: Tiernan 12, Hopkins 5, Meakin 3, Campbell 2, Lancit 2


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