SCRANTON – Abington Heights kept its cool while delivering the early and late shots necessary to ruin a perfect Lackawanna League Division 1 boys basketball record for Scranton Prep.
The Comets showed their composure against pressure to set up wide-open early 3-point shots, then Harry Johnson calmly delivered the game-winner Thursday night when the defending champions forced a three-way tie atop the division with a 51-49 road victory.
Abington Heights picked apart Scranton Prep’s trapping defense to start 4-for-5 from 3-point range and build an early 17-8 lead.
After falling behind 15 seconds into the game, Scranton Prep never led until the final six minutes and then never by more than two points.
The teams could not be separated until Johnson’s five-foot bank shot from the right side as time expired.
“The play is set up for me to screen for Corey and then the roll is there,” said Johnson, who received the in-bounds pass to the right of the foul line with 3.6 seconds left and went right to work on the winning move. “I had the roll, hit him with a little fake to the right, felt like I got him to bite and just spun and hit the shot.”
The shot completed a team-leading, 12-point night for Johnson, who also had six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
“That’s probably my first true, buzzer-beater, game-winner,” Johnson said. “Normally, the ball isn’t supposed to go to me on shots like that, but it came to me and I made sure to hit it.
“I knew that was game. It’s a great feeling; the stuff you dream about as a kid.”
Abington Heights used a dream start to match its second-highest scoring output of the season.
Playing closer to the faster pace preferred by the Cavaliers, the Comets still held them to their lowest-scoring game.
The Abington Heights ability to handle half-court, trapping pressure defense left Scranton Prep coach Andrew Kettel regretting his decision to open the game with that approach.
When the Comets guards were able to face down the traps and move the ball, they found open shooters with plenty of time to square up at the 3-point line.
“If they’re going to trap or press, you’ve got to make them pay,” Abington Heights coach Ken Bianchi said. “You can’t just hold it, because then they have all the advantages that way. They trap, they don’t get it and now you let them play half-court defense or, they get the steal and they get points.”
Abington Heights forced Scranton Prep out of its defensive approach and into a game where it was fighting from behind for 26 straight minutes.
The early shooting gave the Comets the cushion they needed to overcome a monster inside game by Cavaliers sophomore Robert Rossi, who had 20 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots.
Rossi went 7-for-7 in the first half, including five baskets in the second quarter to pull Scranton Prep within 29-26 at the half.
Bianchi praised Mike Malone, who countered on the inside by going 3-for-4 in the second half when he grabbed four offensive rebounds.
Malone finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Nealon had 10 points, a team-high five assists and five rebounds. Phil Johnson hit two of the first-quarter 3-pointers and finished with eight points.
Corey Perkins led the defense with six steals, helping Abington Heights win the turnover battle, 18-11.
Michael Skoff added 12 points and three steals for Scranton Prep.
The Comets managed to hold Rhys Merritt, one of the Lackawanna League’s top offensive threats, to one-third of his scoring average at six points.
