Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Plymouth Whitemarsh battles past Abington
ABINGTON » In a flash, Plymouth Whitemarsh’s comfortable fourth quarter lead had been cut to single digits.
A year ago, it likely would have led to the ship capsizing and that entire lead slipping away into an eventual loss. But for the second time this week, the Colonials managed to plug the leak, didn’t fall apart and maintained their lead to the final horn of the game.
Behind a big first quarter run and plenty of timely defensive plays, the Colonials picked up a 62-50 win at Abington on Friday night to continue their unbeaten start this season.
“There’s teams that do everything right and then there are teams that know how to win,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “Our teams of the last two years did not know how to win, so to be 4-0 and you’re at Abington and at Upper Dublin, the kids know wherever we go, you have to play at a certain energy and if you don’t, you’re going to be in a war.”
The two programs, who have shared plenty of high-stakes games over the past half-decade, aren’t strangers to each other. This wasn’t a game for flashy gimmicks or a cadre of 15 different defensive looks but one that would get figured out in a span of 93 feet by whichever team had it most together. For five minutes, it played out that way with each team trading scores up to a 9-9 tie with PW trying to pressure the Ghosts while Abington attempted to establish its physical play at its pace. From the 2:55 mark of the first quarter to the end of the frame, the visitors reeled off 14 straight points to take a 23-9 lead into the second.
“It was a lot of communication on our part,” PW forward Zuri Jerman said. “We had to be aware of where everyone was at and you do that by talking a lot and moving around. You just have to fight every possession, I’m not trying to give up on any play and you want to fight for your teammates