Abington’s run stopped by Lower Merion

Demetrius Lilley and Lower Merion made it apparent very quickly the Abington boys basketball team was not going to pull off a third straight upset in the District 1-6A tournament.

The No. 23 seed Galloping Ghosts had few answers for slowing down Lilley in the first quarter, the 6-foot-9 senior racking up 10 points inside before connecting on a three to give the No. 2 Aces a 22-8 lead at end of the quarterfinal contest’s opening eight minutes.

“We came out knowing that we had to play hard,” Lilley said. “Knowing Abington was a great team so we had to come out, no slacking. Just come out and play our best.”

Lower Merion just kept rolling, taking a 30-point advantage into halftime and cruised to a 60-28 victory Friday night at Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.

“It just was rough,” Ghosts senior Derrius Lucas said. “Seeing our guys, even me, probably not as aggressive as I could of been but our shots weren’t really falling as much early. Just hard to get going.”

Last season, Lilley totaled 31 points as Lower Merion topped Abington to claim its first district championship since 1996. In Friday’s rematch, the Penn State commit had 13 in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 21 points to help move the Aces (22-3) two victories away from a repeat.