S. ABINGTON TWP. — Jackson Danzig provided an early spark and George Tinsley picked up the slack in the second half to lead Abington Heights past Dunmore, 48-20, in a Lackawanna League Div. 1-3 boys basketball crossover game Dec. 20.
Danzig scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter, including a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Jack Nealon, to help Abington Heights (5-1) build a 14-6 lead.
“I was just feeling it tonight and my teammates were finding me,” Danzig said. “We hang out a lot. I drive (Jack) to school and practice every day because we’re neighbors. I just told him to trust it and throw it because we do it all the time in practice. It was cool for it to happen.”
Danzig also had two steals in the first quarter to set the tone on the defensive end of the floor.
“We wanted to go out there and play with some grit,” he said. “We didn’t want them to out-tough us because we knew Dunmore is a very tough team. We wanted to go out there and give it our all.”
Abington Heights’ tight man-to-man defense forced Dunmore into six second-quarter turnovers, which allowed the Comets to take a 23-12 lead.
“We have the potential to switch on almost every screen and that helps out a lot because we don’t have to be trailing guys,” Tinsley said. “It makes it easier for us on defense.”
Tinsley scored 10 of his 14 points in the third quarter to give Abington Heights a 41-16 lead after deciding to attack the basket. The junior forward converted two three-point plays during the stretch.
“I knew I wasn’t really making my 3-point shots, so I took it to the rack,” he said. “The first and-one felt nice, so I knew that would keep working throughout the game.”
Tom Dougherty led Dunmore (2-1) with five points. Rich Grippi and Mark Rinaldi each chipped in with four for the Bucks.
Abington Heights played without starting guard Trey Koehler, who is battling an ankle injury, for the second consecutive game, but Corey Perkins stepped in to score five points and grab three rebounds.
