City of Basketball Love

Matthew Allibone (@bad2theallibone) 

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Xander Grasty never looked out of control.

He never looked afraid of the moment.

He didn’t have much to say about why he felt so confident. For Grasty, it just comes naturally. 

The sophomore point guard led Abington to a 54-48 road victory over Pennsbury Tuesday night. Grasty scored 17 points as the Ghosts overcame a 15-point deficit after a nightmarish first quarter. Abington is now 10-4 this season.

It certainly wasn’t a one-man show. Abington got points from seven different players and numerous Ghosts had key buckets in the second half. But Grasty was the leading scorer and the one with the ball in his hands as the Ghosts toggled between their uptempo style and a more controlled pace in the final minutes. 

He nailed a huge 3-pointer that extended Abington’s lead to seven with under 5:00 to play. 

“I’ve never even questioned whether he can handle that responsibility,” head coach Dan Marsh said. “He’s got a super high basketball IQ. He comes from a basketball family. He’s really starting to come into himself. 

“Nobody can guard him man-to-man. They can try. But they can’t.” 

Grasty is the son of longtime Ghosts basketball coach and current Abington athletic director Charles Grasty. He grew up going to games and watching his dad prepare for opponents on a regular basis. 

He missed playing varsity for Charles by one season, with Marsh switching from Abington’s girls program to the boys’ last season. 

“It’s different,” Xander said when asked about growing up in a basketball family. “Just different. Having a new coach is cool though.” 

Grasty is a quiet kid who doesn’t say much on or off the court. But his confidence oozes out once the ball is in his hands. 

Standing just 5-foot-8, Grasty has a lightning quick first step and an excellent handle. He can finish from the rim and shoot from the outside. 

Perhaps most importantly, he seems to know when to take control and when to delegate to teammates. He split ball-handling duties with junior Faizon Garland and made sure to get teammates like senior Paul Glants and sophomore Kyler Pickron plenty of touches Tuesday night. 

After the Ghosts scored just two baskets in the first quarter Tuesday, Grasty scored six quick points in the second quarter and got Abington’s running offense back on track. 

“He’s quiet but he gets to it,” the 6-foot-4 Glants said. “He just plays good basketball. It balances out because (Garland) talks the entire game. Having one kid quiet and one super loud is a good balance.”

There’s one area Grasty and his teammates both acknowledge he needs to work on. The sophomore tends to “beat himself up” when he makes mistakes. 

The key for him has been learning to keep shooting even if he misses his first few shots. 

“He’s been amazing, he just needs to stop putting his head down,” Glants said. “If he has the utmost confidence in himself, there’s nobody in the SOL that can stop him. He’s taking 12 to 15 shots a game, there’s no point putting your head down if you miss one. He’s going to get another one. 

“I’m confident in him scoring the ball every time he has it.” 

Nobody was scoring for the Ghosts early Tuesday. They trailed 18-4 after the first quarter. Marsh said it was the third straight game Abington “came out lethargic.” 

The key was getting back to pushing the pace. Abington went back to a trapping defense in the second quarter and its transition offense woke up as a result. The Ghosts cut their deficit to four points at halftime. They led by three entering the fourth quarter. 

Pennsbury kept it close for most of the fourth. Even after Grasty gave the Ghosts a 49-42 advantage with a 3-pointer with 4:45 to play, the Falcons cut the lead to three with 2:41 to play. 

Abington hit a handful of free throws down the stretch to close out the win. 

“We shine in transition,” Marsh said. “We struggle sometimes when I tell them to double team so we can up the tempo. They keep saying, ‘But we’re leaving guys open.’ I know some teams are trying to slow us down and we’re being too patient sometimes. We can’t do that. We have to put the pedal to the floor because we’re not that big.” 

Marsh doesn’t have a great answer for why his team keeps starting slowly. He said it wasn’t an issue for his team early this season. 

Still, the Ghosts are riding a three-game winning streak and have a strong record despite only returning one starter (Glants) from last season. Abington went 18-7 but lost in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs last year. 

Marsh said the key for the rest of this season will be realizing what needs to be worked on in order to avoid another quick exit this February. 

“There’s a lot of little things we struggle with, but we’re inexperienced,” Marsh said. “But you have to go through things to get that experience. We’re learning by fire.”

By quarter 

Abington 4-20-17-13-54
Pennsbury 18-10-10-10-48 

Scoring
Abington: Grasty 17, Glants 11, Garland 9, Turner 8, Pickron 7, Manigualt 4, Hospedales 3 

Pennsbury: Roccograndi 11, Jajua 11, Breslin 8, Gozum 6, Tyrrel 4, Hawkes 4, Manga 4