City of Basketball Love

Jon Bodack (@JBodack92)
--

For an Abington program coming off of a District 1 AAAA championship but having to replace two senior guards--arguably the best backcourt in the district--some might have looked at this season as a rebuilding one.

Up to this point, the Galloping Ghosts are proving those people wrong.

The Ghosts entered Tuesday night’s game against Bensalem High School with a two-game lead over Council Rock North in the National division of the Suburban One League. With no playoff spot officially locked up, any wins they can grab late in the season will certainly help that push toward postseason play.

Head coach Charles Grasty isn’t concerned about that, though; he just wants to see his team get better week after week. If they feel that got better, then the job is getting done. Tuesday night, they got the job done by beating the Owls 58-46.

This is an Abington program that over the past couple of seasons has gotten accustomed to the art of winning, and winning at a high level. The mentality that a coach like Grasty instills in his players might be the reason why.

“Tonight wasn’t about playing Bensalem, I try to tell the guys it’s about us getting better,” Grasty said. “Whether we win or lose, we can deal with it, but if we come in and feel like we got better tonight than we can live with ourselves.”

One of a couple standouts was freshman center Eric Dixon, who was a force to be reckoned with in the paint all night. Dixon, a 6-foot-6 man big with a solid body and well-developed game finished with a game-high 22 points, and he added 12 rebounds.

“I was just working hard like I do every night, and it was a little bit of a mismatch on their side. All of our big men took advantage of it,” Dixon said.

The freshman dominated the first half of the game for Abington (15-3, 10-1 SOL), scoring 15 of the team’s 29 first-half points. Dixon’s teammates did a good job to get him the ball down low in order for him to make plays. He also made most out of his teammates’ missed shots with several put-backs throughout the half.

While Dixon’s play as a freshman has been a pleasant surprise the Ghosts, they still look to seniors to make plays for them in the paint. Senior forward Brian Close, who started during Abington’s district run last year, has done just that, finishing with 10 points and several rebounds of his own against the Owls.

“I like to bring energy off the bench, I like to go in there and work my butt off, work hard, and just bring that energy to me team that we need,” Close said.

Late in the second period, Close came up with a steal at halfcourt and took the ball all the way to hoop for the finish. This pushed the lead up to 15 points for the Ghosts just a little before halftime.

Grasty couldn’t be happier with the energy and effort Close provides.

“He gives everything that he has, he’s a senior, he started every game last year on a district championship team. I thought he could give us more  leadership and spark off the bench, he accepted the role,” Grasty said. “He came in, and he changed the momentum, he changed the complex of the game.”

The solid play inside the paint by the bigs might have been set up by the guard play everywhere else. Gratsy wanted his guards to focus on keeping Bensalem’s guards in front of them all night, forcing the issue from mid-range and beyond all night.

“I thought our guards did a good job of keeping them in front, and make them take a lot of tough contested deep shots,” Grasty said. “Once they did that we were able to rebound, get in transition, get a few baskets in transition.”

Robbie Heath, a 6-foot sophomore guard, is another player on this team with experience, having started alongside Matt Penecale (West Chester) and Amir Hinton (Lock Haven) in the Ghosts’ backcourt a year ago, hitting several big shots during their playoff run. His play made the difference coming down the stretch for the Ghosts when Grasty turned to his bench and Bensalem started to creep back into the game with a late 13-5 run in the fourth quarter.

Heath played well down the stretch when the Ghost’s needed him to, scoring six of the team’s 11 fourth-quarter points. He also tallied several rebounds in the period, one that led to a quick basket when he turned and fired a pass halfway down the court to a wide-open Close, who took it to the hoop for an easy layup.

“He was with us all last year, he started every game last year, he knows what it takes. He definitely rebounded very well for us tonight,” Grasty said. “That’s what we expect from him to rebound, score, and defend. I think he had about six to seven rebounds, that definitely helped us.”

The Heath/Close combination shut the door on the Owls for good within the final two minutes. Heath made his first, and missed his second foul shot only to have Brian Close grab the rebound and take the ball right back up to the rim. Bensalem never got within 10 points again.

Moving forward, Abington will travel to William Tennant on Thursday for another league showdown. With only four games remaining, the chase for the playoffs is on, and the message for Grasty’s Ghost’s is clear, get better with every game.

“This team can have the same success as last year’s team,” Close said. “We just have to learn from last year’s team in terms of playing hard and just getting after it.”