Abington Friends gets past Westtown

With every step Jabril Trawick took, his face winced with pain as he made his way from the trainer's room to the Abington Friends bench. He tightly gripped his water bottle and limped gingerly, trying to alleviate the stress on his left foot.

With seven minutes to play, the 6-foot-5 junior guard had tripped over a Westtown player and laid on the floor at mid-court with a left-ankle sprain. His fists pounded the hardwood as coaches tried to keep him calm.

Two minutes later, Westtown's 6-foot-10 center, Daniel Ochefu, glanced quickly to see Trawick checking in at the scorer's table.

Upon returning, the Georgetown recruit grabbed four rebounds and hit two key foul shots as Abington Friends rallied to defeat the visiting Quakers, 50-48, in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament.

Abington Friends (19-6) advances to play Friends' Central on Friday in the semifinals.

"There was never a doubt in my mind that he was coming back into the game. He's a great player and a great teammate," Westtown coach Seth Berger said.

In Trawick's three-minute absence, guard Joey Gripper carried the Kangaroos. The senior guard scored nine points in the fourth, including a crucial three in transition with a little less than two minutes left to cut the deficit to two. Later, his two foul shots after a steal at midcourt tied the score at 42.

"When he left the game, we had to step up as a team, and I think we did pretty good," said Gripper, who is considering offers from San Diego State and Hampton.

Ochefu battled on the low post throughout the game with Trawick, as he grabbed 11 rebounds on a way to a game-high 19 points for Westtown (17-10).

In the first half, the Quakers junior recorded three rebounds and two blocked shots, including a loud swat late in the second quarter.

"Every game he's dominant, makes a ton of big plays for us," Berger said. "I'm really proud of the way he's improved."

For a brief moment with two minutes remaining, Trawick put aside the pain in his ankle. After grabbing a defensive rebound, he sprinted coast-to-coast on a fastbreak layup, missing the attempt and crashing into the matted wall below the basket after being fouled.

"That's adrenaline. That happens with any injury," Trawick said, as he stood outside the locker room with ice around his ankle. "You don't feel it. You just feel the pain after the game."

The senior scored 14 points, 10 coming from the foul line.

The win marked the 550th career win of Abington Friends coach Steve Chadwin, who is in his 33th year at the school. He improved his record to 550-234.

With his team trailing by one at halftime, Chadwin reminded his players of what he had been repeating to them since Monday.

"It's been our mantra, one more day," he said. "Let's practice tomorrow."

On Thursday, the Kangaroos will do just that.

Westtown   1310916-48

Abington Friends   9121118-50

W: Eli Abrams 13, Emin Berk Atuk 1, Jamie Moon 6, Daniel Ochefu 19, Floyd Preito 1, Nanribet Yiljep 3, Yilret Yiljep 5.

AF: Joey Gripper 16, Kenny Johnson 10, Dylan Moody 8, Jabril Trawick 14, Shaquille Vaughn 2.