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Abington 54, Upper Dublin 38
Badly needing a win, Abington broke open a close game at halftime with a dominant second half to beat visiting Upper Dublin. The Galloping Ghosts had lost four of their previous five games.
Caleb Baker had a big game for Abington with 20 points and five steals, shooting 8-for-11 from the field
“He’s coming along,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said about Baker. “He had 21 the other night against Shipley.
“Unfortunately, it took this long for our guys to understand, but in their defense, they’re totally new. Most of them played at the JV level last year.
We all practice together, but it’s still different. Now Caleb’s just comfortable.
You can see at practice he’s comfortable. He’s doing what we were asking him to do. I don’t know if he totally understood, but now he does, and it’s showing.”
Robert Bell had 11 points and four steals, while Manir Waller had eight points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Joey Brusha had nine points on three 3-pointers.
Abington played the game without Oreck Frazier, who missed the game due to a football commitment.
Defensively, senior captain Zyeir Olaseware played well, holding Upper Dublin standout Drew Stover – who had 12 first-half points – to four points in a quarter and a half in the second half.
Stover led the Cardinals with 18 points.
“I thought our defense was really good today,” Grasty said. “They only had 11 points in the second half. That was really key. Our defense stepped up in the second half.
“I’m trying to tell the guys, ‘Right now, that’s what it comes down to. You have to play defense this time of year. The x’s and o’s are out the window. Now it’s just about defense and effort.’ And I thought they gave us a really good effort in the second half.”
Grasty also credited the strong efforts off the bench.
“I thought our guys that came off the bench came in with a lot of effort,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “We had Yashawn Watts, who hasn’t played a lot this year, he came in, the score was kind of close, and he hit a 3. He gave us some good minutes. Kyle Wilson-Bailey the same thing.
“These guys were wanting to get in, wanting to play just like anybody else. I thought they came in and took advantage of their playing time. They gave us a nice spark.”
Abington (8-9, 7-3 SOL) is back in action Saturday (2 p.m.) with a nonleague game at Bensalem.
“Our schedule is pretty tough, but we have some home games coming up,” Grasty said. “After tomorrow (at Bensalem), we have two tough ones at home next week, PW and Wissahickon, but at least we’re home.
We need them also, and we’re going to continue to try to play the right way.”
Game Summary brought to you by
Upper Dublin (8-9, 3-7 SOL) will play at Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 13 14 6 5-38 Abington 15 13 11 15-54
Upper Dublin (38) – Bazel Brady 2 0-0 5; Drew Stover 9 0-0 18; Aidan Pullman 2 0-0 4; Will Mead 2 0-1 4; Amare Johnson 1 0-0 3; Lebron Snead 1 1-2 4; Totals 17 1-3 38.
Abington (54) – Robert Bell 5 0-2 11; Manir Waller 4 0-1 8; Joey Brusha 3 0-0 9; Caleb Baker 8 3-3 20; Yashawn Watts 1 0-0 3; Adam Shinn 1 0-0 3; Totals 22 3-6 54.