No matter what Abington threw at unbeaten Council Rock South on Tuesday night, the Golden Hawks found a way to pick it apart.
They tore through man and zone defenses and half- and full-court traps with pinpoint passing, turning offense into a layup drill.
The No. 1 team in The Inquirer's Southeastern Pennsylvania rankings claimed another victim, rolling through the Ghosts, 63-32, to improve to 19-0 this season.
"They kicked our butt," said Abington coach Dan Marsh, whose team entered play trailing Council Rock by just one game in the Suburban One League National Conference. "They came to play, and we didn't."
On Jan. 6, the Hawks (19-0 overall, 11-0 league) held off the Ghosts, 36-34, as Abington (13-6, 9-2) missed two potential game-tying shots before the buzzer. How did a two-point win become a 31-point blowout 25 days later?
Two words: Alex Wheatley.
The towering senior came to the gym intent on dominating.
"I came out with the expectation that I was going to be more aggressive, I was going to crash the boards, I was going to look for my teammates if they doubled, and I wasn't going to be shut down," she said.
At 6-foot-3, Wheatley owned the paint on both ends of the floor en route to 28 points. Abington found no answer for the Princeton-bound forward without sophomore Michael Harris, who sat out with a knee injury.
Marsh's team held Wheatley to her scoring average of 18 points in the first meeting. This time around, the coach could not find anyone to fill Harris' shoes inside.
"We weren't able to stop [Wheatley]," he said. ". . . They're not 30 points better than us, but they were tonight."
The game began to turn toward the end of the first quarter, when the Golden Hawks started a 14-0 run that extended into the middle of the second. They held Abington to 10 or fewer points in each frame.
Guard Deja Rawls led the Ghosts with 11 points. Taylor Dillon added 10 for Council Rock.
With three games remaining for each team, Marsh conceded the league title to the Hawks and said he will focus his team on improving its seed for the district tournament.
The coach is preparing to play the rest of the season without Harris, who is scheduled for an MRI on Wednesday.
The Golden Hawks have more than just the league title on their minds.
"We think we can do well in states," South coach Monica Stolic said.
Her team fell one game shy of the Class AAAA playoffs last season. After 19 straight wins this season, Stolic believes her team is just starting to peak.
But don't ask the coach or players about their unbeaten streak. The Hawks are just focused on keeping the machine churning.
"It's great," Wheatley said of the 19-0 record. "Now we just need to prepare for the next one."
Abington 10 10 9 3 – 32
Council Rock South 13 20 16 14 – 63
A: Deja Rawls 11, Gabby Mullin 6, Aiyanna Peal 10, Sarah Listenbee 5.
CRS: Alex Wheatley 28, Taylor Dillon 10, Taylor Hunt 6, Rachel Jacob 4, Alexis Hofstaedter 8, Courtney Brown 7.
Contact staff writer Brian Kotloff at 215-854-4550
