skip navigation

District 1 6A: No. 20 Abington opens districts with upset of No. 13 Pennsbury

02/17/2023, 12:45am EST
By Jared Leveson

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)

FAIRLESS HILLS — Charles Grasty’s Abington High School squad has faced adversity all season on the basketball court.  

The young roster led by juniors Damon Rawls and Jeremiah “JJ” Lee experienced a roller-coaster type year, starting the season 3-6 then going on a six-game win streak. Then sitting at 9-6, Abington fell back to earth losing four straight heading into the final month of the regular season. 

“Our chemistry wasn't very good in the beginning,” Lee said, “because none of us played varsity except me and [sophomore guard] Paul Glants. Once we started getting used to [the] varsity level, we started playing better together.”


Jeremiah 'JJ' Lee (above, in Dec.) and Abington are one win away from the state tournament. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The Ghosts came together and found their stride in February, winning three straight before heading into the District 1 6A tournament.

“We lost a couple close ones,” said Grasty, Abington’s 13th-year head coach. “But we learn from it. Our guys are young [and] I’ve been telling them ‘you want to start playing your best ball at the end of the season.’ I think that's what we did.

“[We] had a meeting ‘fellas listen this is the playoffs, no more easy games, you’re going to have to beat somebody good.” 

Abington’s young core, that’s been growing and learning together all season, responded and beat somebody good. The No. 20 seeded Ghosts upset 13th seeded Pennsbury in a back-and-forth overtime affair, 45-42 on Thursday night. 

“We stayed composed the whole game,” said Rawls, a 5-foot-5 point guard. “When they hit big shots we stayed composed and stuck to what we needed to do.” 

“We got some young guys out there,” Grasty added. “Me and my staff joke about it. It's kinda like they don't know what they don't know. They are just out there playing basketball. These guys were loose.

“It’s kind of a generational thing. I’m screaming and yelling and they are looking at me like ‘coach, calm down, we got this.’”

Abington held a 29-23 lead going into the fourth quarter, but with the home crowd advantage Pennsbury (15-8) stormed back, outscoring Abington 12-6. 

Trailing 35-33, Pennsbury guard Teddy Mangan found open space and received a pass from teammate Ty Kocak. With his feet just inside the 3-point line, the junior rose up and sank the mid-range jumper with 12.5 remaining on the clock, tying the game at 35.

Pennsbury’s defense stopped Abington’s effort to avoid overtime, but Rawls and his teammates weren’t phased. Their focus stayed in the present. 

“We knew he (was) a good shooter so he’s gonna hit big shots sometimes,” Rawls said. “It’s always next play, next play everytime.” 


Point guard Damon Rawls (above, in Dec.) had 11 points in Abington's OT win. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The junior guard got busy right away. He drove hard to the cup and got fouled, converting his first of two free-throws, giving Abington the early overtime lead. Rawls’ fearless play set the tone for his team. 

Pennsbury’s Ryan Zuckerman swung right back and scored off a fundamental pump-fake and drove down the right lane, putting the Falcons ahead, 37-36. 

Rawls brought the ball up the floor and did what he does best, got his teammates involved. The junior guard drove through the lane and as the defense collapsed, leaving Lee with plenty of space on the right-side corner. 

Abington’s leading scorer buried the trey and pushed the Ghost’s lead to 39-37. 

“I stick to what I do,” Rawls said, smiling. “I get my teammates involved. (I) already know me and JJ (have) great chemistry together. I know when I drove they were all gonna come from (the) backside and I kicked it out. 

“I knew he was gonna make it.” 

“Excellent,” Grasty said about his point guard’s performance. “Playing the point guard is the hardest position in our program. It has been for thirteen years. In the beginning of the year, it was a challenge [and] it was new to him. Now, he’s comfortable and you see him out there controlling our team. We love having him, he makes great decisions, and gets us in what we want to get into.” 

Pennsbury never regained the lead after Lee’s 3-pointer; the 6-foot-2 guard was due for a big shot. 

Pennsbury head coach Wes Emme’s game plan made life difficult for Abington’s stalwart guard who was constantly pressured and knocked around physically. Lee didn’t let his struggles finding an offensive rhythm affect the rest of his game. 

“[Lee] missed some bunnies that he would normally make,” Grasty said. “But tough teams make you do that and that’s what I told him, ‘listen we’re getting some shots that we like, we missed a few of them and it's tough, make the next one.’ I thought he hit a huge three.” 

“He’s our leading scorer and everybody knows it. So that's tough.” 

Lee’s an experienced varsity player and has learned how to handle himself and stay the course when facing adversity. 

Lee focused on the defensive end when his shot wasn’t falling and frustrated Pennsbury’s number one scoring option Kocak all night. The senior scored all 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field. 

“I could have made more shots,” Lee said. “The first and second quarter I wasn't on (my game). Everybody else was doing their thing so I just let them do their thing and played defense.”

“I was playing good on defense. (Kocak is) basically their engine for the team so if he was off, everybody was basically off. That's how we played him.” 

But when asked about how he and his inexperienced team has learned to handle hardship as a unit throughout the season, Lee had two answers — mini-golf and Chipotle. 

“After practice and stuff we usually go out to get to know each other even more,” Lee said. “This is how we got here, our team chemistry and we stayed with each other.

“[We] eat a lot.” 

“It's fun playing with my team,” Rawls added. “They are like my brothers.”

Abington’s tight-knit group will face SOL runner-up Central Bucks East (21-4) Tuesday February 21. Another “good” team that the Ghosts will have to defeat if they want to make it back to states, or otherwise face a do-or-die play-back game.

Grasty knows winning will be difficult, but he’s confident that his group’s composure and togetherness will give them a chance. 

“They love each other,” he said. “We got five seniors [and the players] don't want the seniors to go yet and you can see it, we’ll battle.”

By Quarter
AHS: 6 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 10 || 45
PHS: 10 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 7 || 42

Scoring
AHS: Lee 16, Rawls 11, Glants 8, Brashar 4, Young 4,  Ingram 2

PHS: Kocak 11, Taddei 10, Mangan 8, Roccograndi 5, Zuckerman 5, Cohen 2, Callahan 1


D-I Coverage:

HS Coverage:

Small-College News:

Tag(s): Home  High School  Boys HS  Suburban One (B)  SOL Liberty (B)  Abington   SOL Patriot (B)  Pennsbury  Jared Leveson