Patience pays off for Abington girls

The message is simple, but it takes a bit of patience to bring it to fruition.

It's the same patience needed to keep firing shots after your previous attempts miss the mark.

And the same patience that stretches the defensive floor, limiting an opponent's shot selection while winding minutes off the clock.

In white boldface on the back of Abington's black shootaround shirts reads the message "I'm In."

The Ghosts bought into their mantra Saturday as they patiently took apart Lower Merion, 31-21, at Philadelphia University as part of the Philly.com/Rally Scholastic Play-By-Play Classic girls' basketball showcase.

Coach Dan Marsh had the shirts printed before the season "to make sure we're all in this together; it's a total team thing."

Abington's strength is its defense, which is built on the team's length and athleticism. The combination of 6-foot-2 sophomore Michael Harris and 6-1 senior Sarah Listenbee allows the Ghosts to force their opponents into a half-court game.

Clinging to an 11-point lead late in the fourth quarter, Abington gave up a three-pointer to the Aces' Danielle Baer. But, the Ghosts defense had forced Lower Merion to move the ball for a nearly a minute and a half before finding an open shot.

"Patience. That's what we decided to focus on today," said Harris, who is named after her father. "Take our time and wait until we get the ball and then be patient on offense."

Harris finished with six points and hit a crucial basket with 1 minute, 39 seconds left to move the lead back to double digits.

The patient defense limited the Aces throughout, as Lower Merion entered halftime shooting just 16 percent from the field.

"They kept their patience today. I was really proud of them," Marsh said. "We didn't do anything crazy. We beat them in a half-court game. Which is tough to do."

At halftime, Abington was shooting just 30 percent from the field. But, that didn't deter the Ghosts from shooting some more.

In the third, they launched 14 more shots and increased their lead to 25-14.

"Even when you miss one shot, you have to keep shooting," Listenbee said. ". . . I think our team really has confidence in our shooting and just wants to win."

Listenbee finished with a game-high 10 points, including a putback at the first-quarter buzzer. She finished with nine rebounds and was named the team's game MVP.

Junior Rosie Stahler scored six of her team-high eight points in the second half and was named Lower Merion's MVP.

"It feels really good. It was a lot of hard work," Listenbee said. "With my teammates, working hard together, we just pulled it out. I can't be any happier than that."

Lower Merion   5448-21

Abington   10786-31

LM: Sophie Arnold 3, Danielle Baer 3, Kiersten Daly 1, Rosie Stahler 8, Tessa Wade 6.

A: Michael Harris 6, Sarah Listenbee 10, Kayla Nolan 2, Aiyannah Peal 6, Joslin Poole 2, Deja Rawls 5.