Abington Defeats Pennsbury 45-42 in OT: Kehler on Hoops
Written by: Dell Jackson on February 17, 2023
Abington Defeats Pennsbury 45-42 in OT
Abington defeated host Pennsbury 45 to 42 in overtime on Thursday night in a PIAA District 1 Class 6A first round playoff game. The contest was close all of the way, and both squads were relentless. It was kind of a grinder game, with neither team ever able to muster much offensive flow. Both teams are members of the Suburban One League.
Pennsbury never trailed for the first 12 minutes of the game. They got off to a good start in the early going, but their largest lead was six points, at 12 to 6, after a couple of free throws by 6’ 5” senior Ryan Zuckerman. With 4;15 left in the first half, Abington took their first lead of the game, 13 to 12, on a 3-pointer by Josh Young. However, a 3-pointer late in the second quarter by 6’ 3” junior Connor Taddei gave Pennsbury a 16 to 15 halftime lead. Neither offense was able to get much going in the first half.
In a pivotal sequence early in the third quarter, Abington’s Jeremiah Lee made a free throw, but missed a second attempt from the stripe, then grabbed the rebound and sank a 3-pointer to put his squad up 22 to 18. Abington took their largest lead of the game late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Damon Rawls and a putback by Josh Young. That made it 29 to 21, Abington. Abington out-rebounded Pennsbury 12 to six in the third quarter.
Trailing by eight points early in the fourth quarter, Pennsbury chopped away at Abington’s lead. Pennsbury had a 6 to 0 run on a fast break layup by 5’ 11” junior Teddy Mangan, another fast break layup after a steal by 6’ junior Danny Cohen, and two free throws by Mangan, That made it 31 to 29, Abington. The teams traded fiercely contested scores from that point until Pennsbury’s Mangan tied the game at 35 with a jumper with a few seconds left in the fourth quarter. Abington was unable to get off a shot before the buzzer, and the game went to overtime.
Pennsbury scored first in overtime on a drive by Zuckerman. Abington responded with a free throw by Rawls and a 3-pointer by Lee to make it 39 to 37, Abington. Resilient Pennsbury recaptured the lead, 40 to 39, on a 3-pointer by Taddei with 2:06 left in overtime. Then, Abington took the lead for good with two free throws by Rawls. Abington added to their lead with two free throws by Kamari Brasher, and they were up 43 to 40. With less than a minute left in overtime, Pennsbury scored on a putback by Taddei, but Abington then extended their lead to 45 to 42 on a nifty reverse layup on a baseline drive by Paul Glants.
With this win, Abington is highly likely to advance to the PIAA Class 6A state championship tournament, while Pennsbury’s fine season is concluded.
Abington decisively out-rebounded Pennsbury 42 to 33. Abington committed nine turnovers, while Pennsbury had six errors. Abington was 12 of 19 from the free throw line, and Pennsbury was 13 of 21 from the stripe. Abington made five three pointers, and Pennsbury sank three shots from beyond the arc. There were five ties and seven lead changes.
Abington scoring: Jeremiah Lee 16, Damon Rawls 11 (all of them after halftime), Josh Young 7, Paul Glants 7, and Kamari Brasher 2.
Pennsbury scoring: Tyler Kocak 11, Connor Taddei 10, Teddy Mangan 8, Mike Roccograndi 5, Ryan Zuckerman 5, Danny Cohen 2, and Sam Callahan 1.
Abington 6 9 14 6 10-45
Pennsbury 10 6 7 12 7-42
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