City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)

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The Abington boys basketball team got all it could handle from West Catholic in an All-City Classic Tournament game on Friday night. And then some. The Ghosts took a 38-30 lead into the third quarter before things got interesting.

The defending PIAA 3A champs West Catholic ended the game on a furious 14-8 run, but the Ghosts did enough to escape with the tense win at Abington; In fact WC started the final frame with a 14-1 run, prior to the Ghosts' response.

“I think it’s a good measuring stick,” said Abington head coach Dan Marsh. “It’s only going to get tougher. When you beat a PCL team you are going to get some attention. People know we are here now.”

Abington found itself down three points in the final moments of the game when an old-fashioned three-point play from Xander Grasty tied the game up at 44. Faizon Garland hit the big shot from the elbow to put Abington up 46-44, before West Catholic misfired on a 3-point attempt.

“It was December basketball,” Marsh said. “We struggled a little bit offensively just because it’s early. They took away what we wanted to do. We persevered.”

Grasty led the way for Abington with 15 points, while Garland added 11 and Kyler Pickron nine points. West Catholic’s big man Kingston Wheatley finished with 13 points, while Eric Scott Jr and Ya’Sai Rozier had 10 points.

“We had to grind our way through the win,” Marsh said. “Their press bothered us. That’s something we gotta work on.”

Here are some more results from a busy night of early-season tournament play around the region:

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Boys: Coatesville 76, Lower Merion 62

Colton Hiller scored 19 points, while Larry Brown added 18 as the Red Raiders won big at West Chester University on Friday night in a matchup of District 1 powers. Jahlil Thedford added 12 and Isaiah Hicklen 11 in a balanced attack for Coatesville.

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Boys: Spring-Ford 59, Wissahickon 48

Syaire Barnes scored 19 points, including 12 in the second half, as the Rams pulled away for the 59-48 victory at the North Penn Tip-Off Tournament. Blake Turner also added 10 for Spring-Ford, while Dom Vacchiano led Wissahickon with 16 points.

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Boys: The Haverford School 78, Shipley School 49

The Haverford School took down Shipley 78-49 on Senior Night in the opening game of the Don McBride Classic. Silas Graham led the way with 22 points. The Fords got a boost off the bench from sophomores Owen Murphy and Michael Olender who scored 10 and 9 points, respectively. The Fords will play the winner of Landon/Hill tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. in the championship.

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Boys: Bonner-Prendergast 75, Cumberland Valley 48

Bonner and Prendie opened the game with a 20-5 run and never let up on Friday night. Korey Francis led the way with 21 points, while Kam Jackson added 16 and Jakeem Carroll 11. Aidan Diehl led CV with 18 points.

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Boys: Neumann-Goretti 73, Middletown (Del.) 53

Goretti was too much for its Delaware counterparts Friday night in the All-City Classic. Marquis Newsome led the way with 19 points, while Deshawn Yates added 18 points. Stephon Ashley-Wright chipped in with 12 for N-G.

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Boys: West Philadelphia 59, Chichester 39

Kayron Kinney scored 16 points and Isiah Smith added 16 as West Philly won going away on Friday night.

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Boys: Central Bucks East 64, William Tennent 52

The Patriots rolled to a 54-33 lead after three quarters and coasted to the win on Friday night at Pennridge. Keegan Marascio set the tone with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ryan Daley scored all 14 of his points in the second and third quarters, while picking up four steals and Quinn Slack added nine. Ayden Davis Carter led Tennent with 11 points.

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Boys: Souderton 63, Tech Freire 15

Chanse Salone scored 15 points and Marques Brown added 14 as Souderton won big Friday night in the Rotary Classic Tip-Off Tournament. Nate Rusike added 13 in a balanced attack for Souderton.

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Boys: Lansdale Catholic 65, Pennridge 42

The Crusaders outscored Pennridge in every quarter and coasted to a win on Friday in the Pennridge Tip-Off Tournament. Brayden Martin led the way for LC with 20 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Rownan Smith paced Pennridge with 13 points.

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Girls: Perkiomen Valley 60, Pennridge 43

PV had three players in double figures as they roared past the Rams. This was the season opener for Perkiomen Valley, the defending 6A PIAA state champions, which hit the floor with no seniors after losing seven players to graduation. Hannah Evans led the Vikings with 15 points including three 3-pointers. Megan King and Gabby Russo had 10 points apiece. Pennridge’s Samantha Murphy was the games high scorer with 19 points and Madison Lapp added 15 points. Murphy and Lapp each posted five 3-pointers but the effort was not enough to overcome the Vikings.

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Girls: Phoenixville 43, Allentown CC 35

Kayden Baratta scored 19 points, including nine in the first quarter, as the Phantoms held off ACC on Friday night in the Souderton Rotary Classic Tip-Off Tournament. Phoenixville opened the game with a 14-5 spurt and led 25-14 at the half. Claire Seagreaves scored eight points to lead the Vikettes.

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Girls: Souderton 42, St. Hubert Academy 39

Maddie Nenstiel scored 13 points as the Indians escaped with the win on Friday in the first round of the Souderton Rotary Classic Tip-Off Tournament. Liv Herron added 10 points for the Indians, while Madison Bealer scored 9.

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Girls: North Penn 59, MaST Charter 8

Ten players scored in all for the Knights in a dominating showing on Friday night in the NP Tip-Off Tournament. Lily Brown paced North Penn with 13 points, while Meyha Godhania added 11.