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Abington 44, Wissahickon 41
Caleb Baker finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, as Abington avenged a previous loss to the Trojans and moved closer to securing a District One Class 6A playoff berth with the close win over visiting Wissahickon.
“It was another tough one,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “Coach (Kyle) Wilson does a great job. It was triple overtime the last time, so it wasn’t going to be easy for either one of us.
“We knew whoever made the plays at the end would come out on top. I thought we had two pretty good stops, and that helped us at the end.
“They had the ball with 10 seconds, we took a foul, they missed the front end of a one-and-one, and we got the rebound and just ran the clock out.”
It was the fourth straight win for the Galloping Ghosts, and Baker is averaging 18.6 points per-game in his last five games.
As a team, the Ghosts found a way to win despite shooting 30 percent (13-for-43) from the field and just 2-for-12 from 3-point range. Manir Waller and Joey Brusha scored seven points each for Abington, while Oreck Frazier hit a two key free throws with 1:21 remaining in regulation to help secure the win.
“I think our defense has really stepped up,” Grasty said. “I think we’re doing a really good job. We held them to 41, we held PW to 41 the other night, and that’s not an easy task.
“Defensively, we’re getting a little more comfortable on our rotations, our slides, knowing where we should be. That’s helping us get some stops, being in the right spots.
“We thought Kyle Wilson-Bailey came in and sparked us, gave us some really good minutes off the bench defensively. He had a tip-in, and he played really well off the bench in the first half. He gave us a lot of energy. That’s the type of player he is, and once they see one of their buddies doing something, they like to follow suit. I thought that was good for us.”
Abington is now 11-9 over (9-3 SOL) and in the No. 14 spot in the District One power rankings with two games remaining, Tuesday at Hatboro-Horsham and then the regular-season finale at home against first-place Cheltenham.
Wissahickon (10-10, 8-4 SOL) is currently on the outside of the bubble at No. 26, with games remaining at Upper Dublin Tuesday and home against Upper Moreland Thursday.
Game Summary brought to you by
Wissahickon 15 9 5 12-41
Abington 8 12 11 13-44
Wissahickon (41) – D’Shan Love 1 0-0 3; Harrison Williams 2 1-3 6; Jackson Intrieri 2 0-0 4; Stefan Lowry 1 0-0 2; Matt Compas 5 5-7 17; Carmen Ostroski 2 0-0 5; Will Kunzler 2 0-0 4; Totals 15 6-10 41.
Abington (44) – Robert Bell 2 2-3 6; Oreck Frazier 1 3-3 5; Manir Waller 2 3-5 7; Joey Brusha 2 1-2 7; Caleb Baker 5 7-12 17; Kyle Wilson-Bailey 1 0-0 2; Totals 13 16-26 44.