Ghosts Bust Knights in District One Upset

Elizabeth O’Leary shoots into North Penn

TOWAMENCIN- The Abington Galloping Ghosts proved that the number one seed in a playoff bracket does not always get an easy ride to the finals. Abington (No. 9, 20-5) won in a District One upset against the number one seed, the North Penn Knights (21-4), in a 51-44 game.

“We knew it was going to be a game of match ups. Their guards are really good, and our posts are really good, so we had to figure out which match ups were going to win out,” Abington Head Coach Daniel Marsh.

The first quarter exemplified how close of a match up both teams really were. Both North Penn and Abington came with dangerous shooters, but none of them were able to help their teams get anywhere past a 9-9 tie by the end of the quarter.

“We knew Abington was a really good team, so we came into the game knowing we would need to play a solid thirty-two minutes,” said Sam Carangi.

We knew Abington was a really good team, so we came into the game knowing we would need to play a solid thirty-two minutes

— Sam Carangi

However, the  Knights were not hitting their shots, and the Ghosts were rebounding almost every miss. One of the major rebounders for Abington, Kassondra Brown, was also a presence on offense with 4 points in the quarter.

“Kassandra is a great rebounder; she has a nose for the ball,” said Marsh.

The Ghosts held a slight lead for a good portion on the first quarter, but North Penn junior Jenny Hulmes tied up the scoreboard right before the second.

“Being tied with North Penn was kind of exciting since they are the number one team, but at the same time I was super nervous. They have awesome shooters, so I knew at any moment they could start hitting back to back three’s. We could never let our guard down,” said Ghost Sam Brusha.

The second quarter brought the same kind of neck-and-neck basketball that the first did. Both teams held leads, but by the end of the quarter, Abington was ahead 20-19. Elizabeth O’Leary, a 6’2 senior,  was a key component of the Abington offense with 5 points. As for the Knights, Irisa Ye and Jess Huber both added 5 points to keep the Knights within one point of the Ghosts.

It was such a close game; one second we were were happy, and the next second we were worried. It was a very back and forth game

— Kassondra Brown

“It was such a close game; one second we were were happy, and the next second we were worried. It was a very back and forth game,” said Brown.

The Knights quickly gained the lead in the third quarter and soon were starting to pull away from the Ghosts. However, the game started to shift in favor of Abington after the referees began calling fouls against North Penn, getting them in foul trouble.

“We were building momentum, at one point we were up by six, and then they called two fouls on Sam. Just as we were starting to pull away, two quick fouls put our point guard on the bench, and that’s when the momentum shifted,” said Head Coach Maggie deMarteleire.

Controversial fouls called on the Knights allowed the Ghosts to rack up foul shots while completely changing the tone of the game. O’Leary took advantage of the situation and used her height to drive into the paint, which more often than not got her to the foul line.

“In the second half we knew they were in foul trouble so we drove [the ball] in and took it at them. Then we just made our free throws to try and put the game away,” said O’Leary.

Abington led going into going into the final quarter 33-31.

With only one basket separating the two teams, the fourth quarter was an all out battle. For Abington, Sam Brusha, Brown, and O’Leary were all factors in the Ghosts’ ability to sustain their lead. Even after putting point guard Carangi back into the game, North Penn was not able to catch up to the Ghosts before time ran out.

“I had to put her back in or else we were going to lose the game, but unfortunately we already had,” said deMarteleire.

Abington was all smiles after the game with a fresh boost of confidence after their playoff upset win.

“We beat the number one seed, who has only lost three games all year. All of the odds were against us, but we came together and played our game. It is just such a great feeling,” said Brusha.

“Our team knows how good North Penn is, so they are very happy that they beat them. I told them ‘Hey, if you can beat [North Penn], you can beat any team in the State,” said Marsh.

SCORING

North Penn 9 19 31 44

Sam Carangi, 11; Bri Hewlett, 10; Ye, 9; Huber, 8; McKenzie, 4; Hulmes, 2

Abington 9 20 33 51

Sam Brusha, 15; Elizabeth O’Leary, 14; Kassondra Brown, 10; Camryn Lexo, 6; Britney James, 3; Miranda Liebtag, 3

For more game action, check out NPTV’s HD broadcast with announcers Jake Loburak and Anissa Gardizy.