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District 1 6A: Haverford books state trip with playback win at Abington

02/24/2023, 11:00pm EST
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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ABINGTON – Googie Seidman may yet have the last laugh.

If the Haverford senior guard was going to have a chance to pass his older brother John on the program’s all-time scoring list, the Fords were going to need to play a couple more games. John Seidman - the originator of the younger Seidman’s distinctive nickname - has given his little brother plenty of good-natured ribbing about their hierarchy too.

So, Googie Seidman went out and had the best scoring game of his career on Friday, pouring in 36 points as the No. 21 Fords downed No. 20 Abington 66-54 to secure a PIAA bid in their 6A playback bracket game.

“We’re really excited, we still have something to prove,” Seidman said. “We didn’t achieve what we wanted to but luckily, we got into the state tournament so we’re still really hungry.”


Haverford senior Googie Seidman scored 36 points in Friday's win over Abington to book a trip to states. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Seidman scored the majority of his team’s points but it was far from a one-man show. The 6-foot guard made 8-of-11 from the floor and sank 15-of-20 from the foul line, 12 of those attempts coming in the fourth quarter as the Ghosts tried anything they could to extend the game.

A Catholic University recruit, Seidman scored in pretty much every way possible through the first three quarters. He hit a pull-up inside the arc for the Fords’ first hoop, took a steal for a layup, drained a trio of 3-pointers including one from well beyond college range and had a nice finish on a reverse lay-up following a third quarter baseline drive.

“I’ve been having the ball in my hands a lot more,” Seidman said. “I worked on it a lot in AAU, being the primary guard and getting my teammates the ball as opposed to being off the ball.”

John Seidman graduated from Haverford with 1,081 career points. The Fords didn’t have the exact total off-hand Friday, but Googie isn’t quite there yet.

Thanks to his efforts scoring the ball and the rest of the Fords’ efforts on the defensive and the non-book stats like screen-setting, cutting and passing, the senior has given his team at least three more games. That’s what was most important, but there’s a part of him that also wants to pass his older brother in career scoring.

“He’s always talking smack on me, he said I’d never get 1,000, so I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder, something to prove to him,” Seidman said.

Seidman did in fact get his 1,000th point just before the regular season ended, an accomplishment that holds special meaning to the Fords senior.

“I wasn’t necessarily trying to get it, but I feel like I worked really hard for it and felt like I deserved it,” Seidman said. “I just tried to play basketball and let it come to me while having fun.”

Brian Wiener gave Seidman plenty of support, scoring 12 of his 15 points after halftime that included five early third quarter points while Abington was focused on taking Seidman out of the game. That attention, and a three from Gorman Bright Jr. that gave the Fords a 29-20 lead, helped open room for the senior to score three baskets late and end the quarter with nine points.

“They started denying me a little, but we’re pretty used to that,” Seidman said. “Coach Heinreichs has a lot of plays for me and my teammates, they always find a way to get me open no matter what.”

Seidman will be teaming up with Pennridge’s Matt Campione next year at Catholic. The two have pretty similar games and career trajectories, starting out as primarily long-range shooting threats and evolving into more complete guards for their respective teams.

“I’ve been talking with him a lot recently, he’s a good kid, really strong, really athletic so I’m excited,” Seidman said. “I think we’re going to end up rooming together, so I’m looking forward to being teammates with him.”

The loss ends Abington’s season, marking a rare year where the Ghosts will not be competing in the PIAA tournament. Charles Grasty’s group had its share of ups and downs this year, but Abington will return the majority of its top rotation players next season.

Jeremiah Lee and Kellen Ingram, both juniors, shared the team lead with 11 points. 

"Our young guys, now they know what it takes. It was a learning experience for them this year," Grasty said. "We had our ups and downs but we thanked them for being part of the program. You have to be a special kid to have Abington across your chest and we're going to live by that, if you come into the program, you should wear that Abington proud."

Haverford will face No. 17 West Chester Henderson next, then one more game to determine its final playoff seeding. 

“Last year, we were a higher seed but this year we’re more of the underdog and I like that a lot more,” Seidman said. “It gives us something to prove, we’re out coming for other teams and they’re not coming for us. I like it better coming from the bottom and having to take it.”

By Quarter
Haverford: 12  |  11  |  21  |  22  ||  66
Abington    10  |   8   |  14  |  22  ||  54

Scoring
H: Googie Seidman 35, Brian Wiener 15, Gorman Bright 5, Kevin Gannon 4, Andrew Steigleman 2, Keith Heinreichs 2, Tommy Wright 2

A: Jeremiah Lee 11, Kellan Ingram 11, Damon Rawls 9, Josh Young 9, Paul Glants 6, Khalid Jenkins 6, Kamari Brashar 2


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