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Abington beats Pennridge for third time, moves on to District 1 final

Penn recruit Lucas Monroe led Abington with 16 points.

Eric Dixon, right, of Abington comes from behind to block a shot by Jonathan Post, center, of Pennridge in PIAA District 1 boys basketball semifinals at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 26, 2019. Manir Waller is left.
Eric Dixon, right, of Abington comes from behind to block a shot by Jonathan Post, center, of Pennridge in PIAA District 1 boys basketball semifinals at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 26, 2019. Manir Waller is left.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
    by Corey Sharp
    Updated 
    Published 

The third time wasn’t the charm for the Pennridge boys’ basketball team.

The Rams have fallen to twice to Abington, most recently in the Suburban One championship earlier in the month, 62-52, after holding an 18-point lead at one point. The result was the same Tuesday night, as Abington defeated Pennridge, 50-38, in the District 1 Class 6A semifinals at the Liacouras Center.

Abington, the top seed, will meet No. 2 Coatesville for the district championship on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.

Pennridge’s best chance to strike came after halftime. After trailing by 13, the Rams scored six straight points to cut the lead to seven on Sean Yoder’s two free throws. Pennridge then missed two free throws and a layup during a stretch that could have brought it closer.

Manir Waller scored four straight points to give the Ghosts an 11-point lead midway through the third and Abington didn’t look back.

Although Abington has beaten Pennridge three times, the Rams have given the Ghosts fits this season.

“They have the four seed, they gave a bunch of people some tough games,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “They’re just tough, they have good bigs, [Sean] Yoder can play and they have shooters that can spread the floor.”

Penn recruit Lucas Monroe led Abington with 16 points, scoring 12 of them in the first half. Villanova recruit Eric Dixon scored only nine points and was held scoreless in the second half. The 6-foot-8, 250-pounder averages 30.1 points per game.

To pick up the slack, Maurice Henry added 15 points, including two threes in the first half. But his defensive effort really caught Grasty’s eye.

“He stepped up, he played outstanding for us tonight,” Grasty said. “Not even scoring baskets. If you noticed, we put him on Yoder. We felt like if he used his speed, make [Yoder] take tough shots and be around him every time he touched the ball, we felt like we could make it difficult on them.”

Yoder, a Navy recruit, led Pennridge with 11 points.

Abington 17 14 6 13 50

Pennridge 11 7 10 10 38

A: Darious Brown 2, Eric Dixon 9, Maurice Henry 15, Lucas Monroe 16, Manir Waller 8.

P: Paul Croyle 2, John Dominic 4, Trent Fisher 4, Jack Gillespie 5, Christian Guldin 2, Jon Post 6, Luke Yoder 2, Sean Yoder 11, Connor Pleibel 2.