Agony of Defeat
HERSHEY — When Rob Carmody was planning his strategy for the second half of Tuesday's PIAA Class 5A boys basketball title game, he wasn't planning on Abington Heights shooting 87 percent from the field.
But that is what the Mars' coach — and everyone in the Giant Center — watched the Comets do to seal a 67-55 victory over the Planets.
Abington Heights made 13-of-15 attempts from the floor over the final two quarters.
“They just executed very well,” said Carmody. “We had both played 29 games coming into this, so neither team is going to show anything not seen before.
“(Comets' coach) Ken Bianchi has almost 800 wins. You don't get there without getting your kids to execute.”
The Comets struggled in the first half, though they trailed just 25-24 thanks to four 3-pointers and seven turnovers committed by the Planets.
“We shot too quickly in the first half,” Bianchi said. “I told the guys at halftime, make the extra pass.”
More times than not, that extra look went to junior forward George Tinsley, who scored a team-high 29 points, including 19 in the third and fourth quarters. He finished the game 11-of-14 from the field and reached the 1,000th-point milestone.
“I told George that against the 2-1-2 zone, he has to step up,” said Bianchi. “He did. He was tremendous tonight.”
It was a 9-0 run the Comets began the second half with that Mars never was able to recover from. A 3-pointer from Jackson Danzig and two more from Jack Nealon put Abington up 33-25.
At the other end of the floor, Mars' offense was reduced to Robby Carmody, who scored his team's first 26 points of the second half. Included was a trio of conventional 3-point plays.
“I thought we were balanced and making shots in the first half,” said Rob Carmody. “I don't know what happened in the third quarter. We had only one guy scoring and you can't win a state championship like that.”
The Planets trailed 61-53 with under two minutes left, but Rob Carmody still had faith in his team.
“We've been down by that much before and came back,” the coach said. “I knew we could do it.”
Then Robby Carmody fouled out with 1:26 left after scoring 34 points.
“That hurt a lot,” said the senior guard. “Walking off the court before the game is over, I felt like I let my team down.”Andrew Recchia and Brandon Caruso both added nine points for the Planets (25-5).Tinsley had a lot of support in leading the Comets (27-3) to their first state title in program history as Nealon (12), Danzig (11) and Corey Perkins (11) also reached double figures.“It's tough,” said Robby Carmody. “You can't really key on one of their guys because others will step up. There's not a lot you can do.”Amid the disappointment in Mars' camp following the game, there was also encouragement.“I'm proud of the guys,” said Rob Carmody. “You look at what they've done for the community, two state title game appearances in three years, a WPIAL title this season. This isn't a time for tears, it's a time for celebration.”ABINGTON HEIGHTS 67George Tinsley 11 7-8 29, Corey Perkins 3 2-2 11, Jackson Danzig 4 1-2 11, Jack Nealon 3 5-6 13, Mike Malone 1 0-0 2, Drew Nealon 0 1-2 1. Totals: 22 16-20 67.MARS 55Andrew Recchia 3 0-0 9, Robby Carmody 10 12-15 34, Michael Carmody 1 1-2 3, Brandon Caruso 4 0-0 9, Cade Hetzler 0 0-0 0, Joe Schneider 0 0-0 0, Luke Morrissey 0 0-0 0, Raymond Kahn 0 0-0 0, Connor Amsler 0 0-0 0, Joe Craska 0 0-0 0, Hunter Fetsko 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 13-17 55.Abington Heights 17 7 19 24 — 67Mars15 10 13 17 — 553-point goals: Abington Heights 7 (Perkins 3, Danzig 2, J. Nealon 2); Mars 6 (Recchia 3, R. Carmody 2, Caruso)
