D2 Basketball Championships: Early lead not enough for Crestwood in 5A boys final

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Crestwood came out with a flurry Friday night, scoring the game’s first seven points.

But its opponent, Abington Heights, didn’t win the last three District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championships by panicking.

And Abington Heights won its fourth in a row the same way, eventually using its size to defeat Crestwood 57-37 at Mohegan Arena.

Abington Heights also won seven of the 11 D2-5A championships.

Jordan Shaffer, a 6-foot-4 senior, led the way for Abington Heights with a 17-point, 17-rebound performance. His domination on the glass often led to one-shot possessions by Crestwood.

“We got off to a good start that we thought we had to,” Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. “Then at halftime we talked about their rebounding and their size that obviously hurt us. We never took care of that in the second half.”

Shaffer’s final rebound demonstrated Abington Heights’ control of the boards. He made a block, grabbed the rebound and then scored inside. He hit an ensuing free throw for a 52-32 lead with 2:28 remaining.

Abington Heights scored many of its baskets inside the paint despite having several players who showed their capabilities beyond the arc during the season.

“You look like the first quarter they had one inside the lane,” Atherton said. “Then after that, it started multiplying more. In the first half, there was two of them that we had the rebound and they pulled out of our hands that we dribbled.

“You just can’t do that against a good team.”

Abington Heights knew Crestwood’s strategy coming in — play tough defense and keep the game low scoring. Instead, Crestwood tied for its lowest output of the season. A 53-37 loss to Bethlehem Catholic on Dec. 13 was the other.

“That’s what they’ve done all year,” Shaffer said. “We saw the final scores of their games. They’re low-scoring games, but they win them. So we knew we had to dictate the pace of the game. They dictated it early.”

Jack Rodgers and Miles Metz had baskets and Gio Barna added a 3-pointer as Crestwood jumped to a 7-0 lead. Abington Heights missed its first seven shots before big man Carter Plantz scored inside with 1:41 left in the opening period.

The big outburst came in the third quarter as Andrew Kittel scored on a couple fastbreak layups that boosted the lead from four points to 33-22.

Freshman Miles Metz had 14 points for Crestwood, the team’s only player in double figures.

Both teams will play in the PIAA state playoffs Friday, March 6. Abington Heights (17-7) plays District 1 fourth seed Springfield-Delco (21-4). Crestwood (17-9) gets District 1 third seed Holy Ghost Prep (20-2).

District 2 Class 5A Boys Championship

Abington Heights 57, Crestwood 37

CRESTWOOD (37) — Gio Barna 2 3-5 8, Miles Metz 6 1-1 14, Connor Wagaman 0 0-0 0, Jack Rodgers 2 2-2 6, Ayden Agapito 2 3-6 9, Avery Brace 0 0-0 0, Brady Johnson 0 0-0 0, Zach Sechleer 0 0-0 0, Ruben Montanari 0 0-0 0, Cole Naperkowski 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 9-14 37.

ABINGTON HEIGHTS (57) — Andrew Kittel 6 1-1 14, Cooper Manning 2 0-0 5, Fin Goldberg 4 0-0 8, Jordan Shaffer 4 8-9 17, Carter Plantz 1 4-6 6, Chris Begley 1 0-0 2, Gavin Corwin 0 0-0 0, Ben Reese 1 0-1 2, James Butala 0 0-0 0, Billy Johnson 0 0-2 0, Logan Shaffer 0 0-0 0, Luke Dougherty 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 14-21 57.

Crestwood`12`7`8`10 — 37

Abington Heights`7`16`14`20 — 57

Three-point goals: CRE 3 (Barna, Metz, Agapito). AH 3 (Kittel, Manning, Shaffer).