City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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John Paul Nolan wasn’t even sure if he was going to try out for the basketball team this year.

The Abington senior spent his sophomore season on JV and left the basketball program as a junior to focus on his talents on the baseball diamond, where he is the ace pitcher for the Ghosts and earned a scholarship to East Stroudsburg next season.

After watching Abington take home a District 1 Class 6A title from the student section in 2017, Nolan felt like he might want to rejoin the team. Still, he was not sure if he had the ability. It took some coaxing from coach Charles Grasty and fellow senior Robbie Heath to get him to come out.

“He was like ‘Should I try out? I don’t think I’ll make the team,’” Heath said. “I was like P, you’ve got a jump shot. We need jump shooters on this team.”

Though Nolan obliged to the request, he didn’t expect to see much time on the floor for the defending district champs, but he scored seven points in the Ghosts’ first game and has carved out a role as a knockdown shooter ever since.

Behind Heath (17.8 ppg), junior forward Eric Dixon (23.8 ppg) and junior guard Lucas Monroe (13 ppg), Nolan came into Tuesday’s District 1 Class 6A semifinal against Lower Merion as Abington’s fourth-leading scorer at 3.8 points per game.

In the Ghosts’ 72-61 win over the Aces, Heath had 24, Dixon had 22 and Monroe scored 11, but Nolan’s five points, including a fourth quarter 3-pointer, loomed large in getting Abington back to the district final for the second year in a row.

“I love it,” Nolan said of his role on this year’s team. “Just coming in and shooting threes.”

Grasty has Nolan in his sports marketing class and in the fall he said he played mind games with the 6-foot-4 forward, trying to get him back on the squad. Nolan finally relented in early October. Grasty’s only condition was that he needed to get back in basketball shape before the season started.

While Nolan felt like he wasn’t going to see much playing time, Grasty had an idea all along how important he might be to this year’s team. That’s why he pushed so hard for Nolan to try out. With defenses collapsing on Dixon, especially, the Ghosts needed as many shooters as possible to open up the floor.

The joke around Abington is that Nolan is the second best shooter in the school behind Grasty. Since coach can’t suit up for the squad he needed Nolan to fill the role.

“These teams are playing that junk defense to pack it on a Eric,” Grasty said. “He extends the floor for us...We want to get him on the floor and get shots up.”

At the end of every practice, Nolan won’t leave the gym until he’s made at least five 3-point shots. It’s carried over to the games. After a 7-of-28 start from 3-point range this season, Nolan has made 16 of his last 35 attempts from deep, good for 45 percent.

He made just one of his four attempts from outside on Tuesday, but it was an important one.

After Abington couldn't add on to its five-point halftime lead in the third quarter, the Ghosts tried to separate themselves from Lower Merion early in the fourth. Nolan found himself wide open in the right corner. He buried a three to put the Ghosts up 55-43 with 5:59 left. It capped off a 7-0 run to start the final period and gave Abington its largest lead at that point in the game.

Lower Merion’s Jack Forrest, who finished with 21 points, and Steve Payne, who finished with 17, tried to help the Aces cut into the deficit, but the 12-point advantage was too much to overcome. Lower Merion never got the score closer than seven points the rest of the way.

“I didn’t realize how big it was until after the game,” Nolan said of the shot. “Everyone was like, ‘That was huge...I just had the ball open and I just shot it.”

With the win, Abington will play Plymouth-Whitemarsh on Saturday in the District 1 final. Lower Merion will play Central Bucks West for third or four place on Friday night.

Heath, a four-year starter for the Ghosts, is happy to have one of his close friends alongside him for his final season. The senior guard said was especially proud to share the moment with Nolan on Tuesday night.

“This is why I love basketball,” Heath said. “To have my friends with me, and producing in the game like that, that’s what I like to see. So I’m glad he’s come to play this year, and it’s been a really fun year.”