PIAA Class 5A Basketball Playoffs: Impressive third-quarter comeback not quite enough for Comets to extend season

BETHLEHEM – Abington Heights followed up its perfect regular season with a near-perfect third quarter in the final game of a memorable season.

Those impeccable eight minutes were still not enough to overcome 10-time state champion Imhotep Charter and a lineup that featured three future National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I players in the starting lineup and another coming off the bench.

UConn commit Ahmad Nowell scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter March 15 as the Panthers turned back an inspired Comets comeback for a 56-46 victory in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 5A boys basketball state quarterfinal.

Imhotep Charter threatened to make Abington Heights its latest blowout victory as it built a 33-9 lead late in the first half.

The Comets made it all the way back to having possessions with a chance to tie the game early in the fourth quarter after outscoring the Panthers 28-7 with four of the last five points of the first half, followed by a 24-6 third quarter.

During that third quarter, the Comets shot 4-for-5 from 3-point range and 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) overall while outrebounding the Panthers 8-6 and committing just one turnover compared to the three they forced.

Will Marion scored nine of his team-high 14 points in the quarter, going 4-for-5 with a 3-pointer, three rebounds and two assists.

“Coming out of halftime, we knew we had to change some things up, hit our open shots and just stay confident, come out with our heads up,” Marion said. “We gave it our all, but we couldn’t come out on top.”

Mason Fedor and Robby Lucas added 12 points each. Fedor, who hit both his 3-point tries while scoring eight points in the quarter, also grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked three shots and made three steals.

Imhotep Charter supported Nowell, regarded as one of the nation’s top combo guards in the Class of 2024, with a talented crew of prospects. Zaahir Muhammad-Gray, Latief Lorenzano-White and Zion Green are 6-foot-7, 6-6 and 6-8 sophomores. Muhammad-Gray and Lorenzano-White are already weighing NCAA Division I offers. Makye Taylor, a 6-7 senior who is committed to the University at Albany, comes off the bench.

Muhammad-Gray had nine points, six rebounds and three blocks. Taylor provided eight points and four offensive rebounds.

Imhotep Charter added two more victories and has won four of the five Class 5A state titles since Abington Heights won it all in 2018. The Panthers have often humiliated the opposition in the process.

The Panthers came in 12-0 in state play over the past three seasons by an average of 68.3-40.7, including a 27-point victory over the Comets in the same round a year ago. All but one of the dozen victories came by at least 15 points.

Imhotep Charter threatened to make the quarterfinal rematch just another of its blowouts.

The Panthers allowed just three field goals in the first 13-plus minutes.

Nowell had 11 points in the first five minutes and was personally outscoring Abington Heights for more than half the game. He had 16 points at halftime.

Imhotep Charter went on a 26-4 run – 10-2 to end the first quarter and 14-2 to start the second – on the way to its 33-9 lead.

Abington Heights did not allow a field goal for three minutes to end the first half and more than a minute to start the second half.

Even more importantly, considering the deficit the Comets were facing, the offense heated up.

Abington Heights made its first five shots of the second half, including 3-pointers by Marion and Lucas.

The Comets did not stop there.

Midway through the quarter, they ran off 14 straight points with Fedor providing five points, an assist and a steal that led to another basket. Marion scored four points, Lucas hit a 3-pointer and Ryan Nealon added a basket in the run that pulled the Comets to within 39-34 with 1:54 left in the third.

Fedor’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left made it 40-37 going to the fourth quarter.

“They played a good third quarter,” Nowell said. “They really made a lot of shots, a lot of contested shots with hands.

“ … Coming out of the third, we knew we had to buckle down like we had in the first half and get some consecutive stops.”

Imhotep Charter opened the fourth quarter with five straight points and Abington Heights was chasing again.

Fedor’s two free throws with 3:54 left cut it to 45-40 with 3:54 left.

Nowell scored nine points in the last 3:35, including the game’s final four points, but it was not easy to put the Comets away.

“Nowell and all their other guys are very good players and I wish them all the best,” Marion said, “but I thought we did a pretty good job in the second half coming out, shutting them down and going on a run. But, we just fell short.”

Nealon’s 3-pointer from the left corner made it 52-46 with a minute to go, but that was the closest Abington Heights got once Nowell started scoring again.

The Comets finished 26-1. The Panthers improved to 27-3 with all three losses coming to out-of-state opponents.

Abington Heights 76, Whitehall 70

The perfect Abington Heights season was on the verge of ending one game short of the team’s most-anticipated matchup.

The Comets found a way to escape a 13-point hole late in the third quarter and a five-point deficit past the midway point of the first of two overtime periods.

Lucas and Nealon hit 3-pointers and Fedor converted a three-point play in a span of three overtime minutes to fuel the last of the comebacks as Abington Heights defeated Whitehall March 12 in a second-round game.

The Comets pulled out their last win of the season with all five starters scoring in double figures and a defense that turned up the heat with constant trapping in a frantic effort to fight from behind.

Each of the five starters scored during a 13-0 run to end the third quarter and start the fourth. That run created the first of seven lead changes that went along with seven ties over the game’s tense and hectic final 14 minutes, which included the two, four-minute extra sessions.

Lucas finished with a team-high 21 points while Nealon had 20, including 15 in the fourth quarter and overtimes. Fedor and Will Marion each scored 12 and Jordan Shaffer had 11.

The Zephyrs had shots at the win to end regulation and the first overtime – missing on a contested 3-point try and then a drive that produced a hurried, reaching layup attempt.

Abington Heights finished with 10 baskets from beyond the arc, including five in less than six minutes late in regulation and two more in overtime. Shaffer and Nealon hit back-to-back, 3-pointers for a tie and the lead with 3:07 and 2:28 to play in the fourth.

Nealon then had a hand in the first 15 Abington Heights points of overtime. He scored nine and assisted a 3-pointer by Lucas and a three-point play by Fedor. It was Nealon’s drive with 42 seconds left that accounted for the last points of the first overtime, forcing the tie which made another necessary.

The Comets scored the game’s last nine points to recover from a Whitehall 3-pointer to begin the second overtime.

Abington Heights 91, Bonner-Prendie 64

The Comets put up the highest point total in 190 games to open the state tournament the weekend of March 8-9.

Marion scored 31 points and dished out five assists to lead the way as Abington Heights ran over Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School from the Philadelphia suburb of Drexel Hill while rolling to a home-court victory.

The 27 points also represented the largest margin of victory in any of the 16 Class 5A boys games.

Nealon added 24 points. Mason Fedor scored 14 points while grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking five shots for the Lackawanna League Division 1 and District 2 Class 5A champions. Robby Lucas gave the team a fourth double-figures scorer with 12 points. He also had eight rebounds and three assists.

All four players averaged in double figures for the season.

Marion got there in the first quarter. He scored 10 points and Lucas added seven to get the Comets out to a 22-12 start.