Boys Basketball
District 1-6A Playback
(7) Spring-Ford 51, (6) Abington 49
Spring-Ford’s aced its penultimate tune-up ahead of next month’s PIAA Tournament.
Trailing by four entering the final quarter on the road at Abington, the Rams did not stress or panic; they simply did what the program always seems to do this time of year: win big, tough, close games.
Senior Jack Kennedy produced nine of his team-high 16 points during a crucial fourth period, helping the Rams (21-6 overall) outscore the Ghosts by six in the final frame as his team advanced to Friday’s District 1-6A fifth-place game, where Spring-Ford will host the winner of Wednesday’s Cheltenham-Garnet Valley playback. Kennedy knocked down two 3-pointers in the game and made all five of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.
Fellow senior Syaire Barnes notched 12 points as the only other Rams player in double figures. Eight total Spring-Ford players scored in the contest, with junior Matteo Magazzolo next on the scoresheet with seven points. Blake Turner, Bryce Robinson, Ethan Ojakovo, Declan Plate and Jackson Wickersham all scored between two and four points in the game.
Spring-Ford’s PIAA Tournament run will begin on Saturday, March 7 against either the District 3 or District 12 runner-up. The Rams have won at least one state playoff game in each of the last three seasons: in 2025, they beat Central Dauphin in the first round before falling to eventual state champion Father Judge; in 2024, Spring-Ford knocked off Scranton and Springfield Delco in the first two rounds before getting knocked out by Archbishop Wood in the quarterfinals; and in 2023, the program advanced the farthest it has gone under head coach Joe Dempsey, advancing all the way to the semifinals until state champ Reading secured a dominant victory.
Meanwhile, Abington (18-9) received a game-high 18 points courtesy of Xander Grasty. The Ghosts will host the Cheltenham-Garnet Valley loser on Friday night in the district’s seventh-place contest.
