City of Basketball Love

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)
--

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- It was a year and five days ago that Abington Heights and Chester needed two overtimes to settle their differences in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals, a one-point victory by Heights to advance into the final four teams in the state.

Thanks to opening-round wins this year, the Comets and Clippers found themselves matched up head-to-head in the state bracket yet again. And since the first time they played at Liberty High School went so well, the second one didn’t seem likely to disappoint.

And though no extra sessions were needed this time around, there was no shortage of drama yet again.

Abington Heights got out to a big lead during the second half, but Chester clawed all the way back to take a lead. Once again Jackson Danzig stepped up late -- he scored 18 points in the two overtimes a year ago -- and helped the Comets come out victorious, 49-48 over Chester.

With the win, Abington Heights advances to the state quarterfinals for the second straight year, playing Northeastern on Friday at a site and time to be determined.

“It was nice to play [Chester] again,” said Danzig, who scored a game high 21 points. “So surreal to play the same team in the state tournament. They were really coming for us because we beat them last year, so they wanted to come out strong. We wanted to step on their throats first and get a good lead.”

That’s just what they did.

In the first half, Danzig was almost impossible to stop. The 6-5 guard and Scranton recruit scored 11 points going into halftime. He was nailing pull-up jumpers, three-pointers, and taking the ball strong to the rim.

George Tinsley, a 6-5 junior, was also on a roll, doing the dirty work underneath the basket and scoring seven of his 11 points at the break. Junior Jack Nealon scored eight, and sophomore Corey Perkins added seven.

“We were controlling the pace,” Tinsley said. “Running our plays and we knew it would work out. Getting to the basket, and once we did that we hit some threes.”

Abington Heights led by nine at the break, and 12 after the third. But after the fourth quarter got underway, it was all Chester. The Clippers were on fire, seemingly scoring every time down the court, and getting a bunch of steals on defense.

“All game long we were taking our time and running our offense,” head coach Ken Bianchi said. “We can’t get into run and gun. That’s not us. They got us into that. Instead of setting up and running something, we had people dribbling the ball that shouldn’t.

“That gave Chester a lot of emotion. In the fourth quarter they killed us on the boards. They missed a shot but got two or more three shots at it.”

Chester’s star freshman Karell Watkins stanched four offensive rebounds in the final frame, which helped Chester, and its crowd, slowly but surely get back into the ball game.

Chester had an opportunity to inbound the ball with 12 seconds remaining, but stepped on the sideline, giving the ball back to Abington Heights. Danzig got fouled and hit one of his two free throws, giving Chester one last chance to beat Abington Heights.

But the layup was off the mark, and Abington Heights pulled down the rebound as time expired.  

“Thank goodness it’s over,” Danzig said.

“You look at the final score, and we’re playing again,” Bianchi said. “I was a little hard on them, but told them a win is a win and we move on.”

Since they had played a year ago, Abington Heights knew very well what Chester’s attack would be. But fortunately for the Comets, the Clippers didn’t play to their potential until the fourth quarter.

“We knew they would bring speed, they were fast,” Tinsley admitted. “We knew what kind of game this would be.

“We just were forcing things. Went to fast on offense, tried to dribble through everything. Not slowing down running plays, they forced us to speed up and it’s what they wanted.”

But it was too little to late for the Clippers.

“Feels good to get a win over the greatest team in the history of Pennsylvania,” Danzig said. “We’re taking nothing for granted and just moving onto the next game. Going back to the drawing board.”

If they happen to meet up next year, why not play it at Liberty again?
~~~

4A: Imhotep outlasts Scranton Prep

In the Philadelphia Public League, Imhotep Charter is used to playing a high-paced game. The Panthers thrive in the up-tempo with high-level athletes, and it’s what they’re used to doing.

Imhotep was taken out of its element by Scranton Prep, which wanted to slow the game down and waste as much time as possible.

But in the end, thanks to junior forward Donta Scott’s play down the stretch, Imhotep prevailed, winning 44-29.

“It’s one the reasons I think we need a shot clock in Pennsylvania,” head coach Andre Noble said. “At some point we’re not playing basketball. We’re playing chase.”

“We expect to see that though,” he continued. “I thought our kids held their composure. When we get to states we see it a lot. Our kids know it, we work on our pressure.”

Scranton Prep took its time on offense, passing the ball around the arc numerous times before advancing it inside the three point line.

Imhotep is one of the most athletic teams in the area, and can almost be taken out of its element when slowed down so much.

“Sometimes it's hard to stay patient when they slow it down because we just want to go,” 6-7 junior Donta Scott said. “We want to score and get the rebound and push it up.”

Scott led the way with 13 points, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. Junior Chereef Knox added eight, while sophomore big man Elijah Taylor had seven and Dahmir Bishop chipped in five.

For Scranton Prep, champions of District Two, senior Wes Simons had nine points, and 6-8 junior Leo O’Boyle, who averages 20 points per game, was held to just five.