Abington duo too much for Nantucket, advance to boys Div. 4 South final

TAUNTON — Abington’s Matt Maguire and Cam Curney didn’t get much of a chance to show what they are capable of in the first half.

But after halftime, the 6-foot-8 Curney, who picked up two early fouls, combined forces with Maguire to form an unstoppable tandem.

Maguire knocked down seven treys en route to a game-high 28 points while Curney scored 11 of his 15 points in the third quarter and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-seeded Abington ended No. 17 Nantucket’s Cinderella run with an 81-61 win in Thursday’s Division 4 South semifinals at the Rabouin Field House.

“They are a tough duo to cover when Matt’s going like that from outside and Cam inside,” said Abington coach Peter Serino, whose Green Wave will face Cape Cod Academy in the South final Saturday (3:15 p.m.). “It’s kind of pick your poison.”

With Curney sitting out a majority of the first half, the 6-foot-5 Maguire shouldered the offensive load. After air-balling his first 3-point attempt, Maguire sank his next try and buried three 3-pointers in the second quarter as Abington (20-5) led 42-35 at halftime.

Curney then applied himself in the third quarter as he controlled the boards and combined with Maguire to net 19 of Abington’s 24 third-quarter points to keep Nantucket (13-11), who was led by Malique Bodden’s 24 points, at bay.

“We weren’t doing a good job rebounding and (Curney) would do a big job in the second half with that,” McGuire said. “He just gave us a good spark.”

Abington, which also received strong play from Colby Augusta (10 points), put the game away with an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter, as Maguire punctuated the spurt with his final 3-pointer.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2VNSCfG