City of Basketball Love

By Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2023-24 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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Dan Marsh has done a lot of winning in 18 years on the sidelines at Abington High School. 

He hopes that trend continues this season — though things will be a little different.

Marsh switched over from the girls side to take over for longtime boys skipper Charles Grasty, who took over as the school’s athletic director in May. Grasty won more than 250 games and four District 1 championships his 13 seasons leading the Abington boys. 

Marsh had simultaneous success with the girls in his 18 years at the helm, winning District 1 titles in 2010 and 2017 and contending for Suburban One League and state titles on a consistent basis.

“I don’t think my goals as a coach will change,” Marsh said. “We want to win the league, compete for districts and a state championship. That’s been a staple of our philosophy on the girls side, and it was a staple on Charles’ side. We want to keep the tradition of this program as an elite one in the area.”

Marsh inherits a senior-laden group led by 6-3 combo guard and top offensive option Jeremiah “JJ” Lee back in the fold after averaging 16 points per game last season and receiving first-team SOL Liberty honors.

“That [scoring average] should go up if we play my style,” Marsh said.“We’re going to run a lot of stuff for him to get open looks.”

Marsh expects to incorporate some of his philosophies from the girls side, which includes more up-tempo tendencies, with the more traditional sets Grasty implemented as head coach.

“There are some similarities that Charles and I have but I think he’s a little bit more traditional than I am in his schemes,” Marsh said. “I want an up-tempo, fast pace. I believe basketball is a possession game, meaning the more possessions you have the better. However you determine you’re going to get more possessions — through things like offensive rebounding or forcing turnovers — is important. Then when you make a mistake offensively it’s not as big of a deal.”

He feels the Ghosts will have the athletes to do that with Lee flanked by 5-5 fellow senior Damon Rawls running the point and senior guards Jaden Flournoy, Aaron Jones, and Lathan Miller.

Marsh expects to tinker with the lineup as the season progresses, but senior wings/bigs in 6-6 Kamari Brasher, 6-7 Jon Roberts, and 6-4 Kellen Ingram will have roles. Everyone is back except 6-5 post Josh Young and 6-5 wing Liam Rardin.

“There’s a bunch of seniors that will contribute,” Marsh said. “We legitimately go 12 deep and there’s not a huge disparity between the talent level. Obviously the kids offer different things. But there’s not a huge drop-off from one to 12.

“I think one of the biggest challenges right off the bat is that there are going to be 12 players we want to make happy. We want to make sure people are comfortable in their roles and they understand that there’s more than just playing time and we’ll need people to contribute in many different ways.”

Non-seniors who will get playing time include 6-3 junior guard Paul Glants (7.3 points, 4.4 assists per game last season), junior guard Jake Manigault, and freshman Xander Grasty, Charles’ son.

“He’s got a tremendous upside,” Marsh said of Grasty. “Behind JJ and Jaden, he might be our third-best scorer alongside Paul. He’s young but we expect him to play varsity and contribute.”

Abington finished last season third in the SOL Liberty with a 10-6 mark behind Plymouth Whitemarsh, which returns heralded guard Jaden Colzie, and Upper Dublin, which reloads with junior guard Ryan Mulroy leading the charge. 

“PW is always very good,” Marsh said. “Upper Dublin is also good as far as our conference goes. I saw Quakertown play and they look good. So it’s not something that’s just going to happen. We’re going to have to put the work in.”

The Ghosts had an up-and-down season in 2022-23 that eventually ended with a 13-12 overall record and one win away from qualifying for the state tournament. They started 3-6, went on a six-game win streak, went on a four-game losing streak, and then won three straight before the District 1 Class 6A tournament, where they upset No. 13 Pennsbury as the No. 20 seed. They fell to Central Bucks East in the next round and then Haverford in the playbacks to end their season.

Abington will certainly be looking for more consistency this season with the seniors now having experienced playing at the varsity level. The Ghosts are off to a good start, defeating CB East 61-42 in a scrimmage Tuesday then officially starting their season with victories over Samuel Fels and Cumberland Valley this weekend.

“I don’t plan our end-of-season banquet until after the state championship,” Marsh said. “We expect to be playing in March. Will we be? I don’t know yet. But that’s our expectation.”