The Abington Heights senior had 35 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Comets to an 84-61 victory over Scranton Prep, the No. 1 team in The Times-Tribune Top 10 poll last week. He also had 20 points and 11 rebounds in the Comets’ 60-56 victory over No. 4 Valley View. Abington Heights leads the Lackawanna League Division I standings, and climbed from No. 6 to No. 3 in poll. Shaffer has 989 career points.

What did you think of your performance last week: As a team, we all knew what (the) week meant. We knew that if we wanted to compete for a championship in the league this year that we needed to take care of business. We really locked in over the weekend and Monday preparing for Tuesday and Friday, so it meant a lot. (The) week was huge. Prep’s a ginormous game for Abington and Prep fans, for basketball fans in the community and for a lot of players on our team it means even more. So, we played with an edge that we haven’t seen out of ourselves all year. That was huge. It was awesome to see, but it gives us confidence going forward to know that the tough nonleague schedule that we prepared ourselves with is paying off and we’re reaping the rewards of that now.

You beat Scranton Prep, 84-61. What was the key to that game: All week, coach preached two things. No. 1 was that everybody needed to be a star in their role. That for sure showed throughout the whole week, especially on Tuesday with guys stepping up, understanding what they need to get done, what was expected out of them and doing that to the best of their ability. The other thing he preached was to pound the pain inside, pound the boards. We’re going to be taller than every team in the league, so we really need to take advantage of that and we definitely did in both games, especially on Tuesday. We won the rebounding battle by I thought it was like 20 coach said. So, that was by far the difference-maker in that game, our ability to score in the paint and keep them from offensive rebounding the ball was ginormous.

Then, you go into Valley View and it ends up being a very different game for you guys. How important is it for you guys to know that you can win in different ways: Friday was a very different game from Tuesday. At halftime, I think me and Andrew Kettel had a combined three points and that was the same until about two minutes left in the third quarter. So for our team to know that we could win games with our top two scorers offensively having poor games against a quality team to be able to win a game like that, that gives everybody confidence all the way through the team. So, it’s huge to see that. It was two different games, but it was the same philosophies in both games to attack the paint and be a star at our role. We weren’t as strong in the paint as we were against Prep, but talking about being a star in your role. Some guys stepped up who really won us that game. Guys keeping us in the game in the first half, guys like Chris Begley and Finn Goldberg making big steals down the stretch, knocking down free throws and then Finn hit some huge shots in the late third, early fourth to really bring us back and keep us in the game.

Do you see any difference between last year’s team and this year’s team: I do see a lot of difference. Last year’s team, we had one senior starter Robby Lucas, who is an amazing player — the best teammate you can ask for — and he was our engine. But, he is the only senior starter that we lost. We really only lost one other senior contributor at all. So, this year we’re playing at a pretty heavy senior lineup. You feel like you’re playing as hard as you can all the time, but when you get to your senior year and you know that there’s nothing after this, there’s a sense of desperation that comes in. We have five seniors that play tons of minutes for us, and everyone is playing with that sense of urgency, sense of desperation that we want it more than anything else right now.

I know you were a leader last year, but what is your leadership role like this year now that you’re a senior: Last year, obviously, we had a great leader in Robby, and so he was very vocal with the team. So this year with him leaving, we had a void in that area, so I wanted to fill that gap and really be a vocal leader while also trying to bring energy to practice every day. We have other guys on our team as well that definitely bring energy to practice and they make it so much easier for me to be vocal, to be excited to come to practice every day. So, I wouldn’t even say it’s fully on me. We have five captains this year and it very much could be six. So, it’s huge for us having six guys that people can hear from, listen to and just trust to have their best interests in mind.

Last year, you guys won a district title and lost to Upper Moreland, 60-57, in the first round of the state playoffs. Did you learn anything from last year and what are your goals for the rest of this season: You can learn everything from every year that you play in, but last year we really learned the importance of finishing games. We had a lot of games, especially down the stretch, that we should have won, could have won and we left it out there — that state final one, we lost a close one to Valley View, we lost a couple of close ones early in the year. So this year to get a win like we did on Friday where we’re the team that comes from behind and wins the game in the closing minutes was huge. And then as far as goals go, there’s a standard that gets set for you at Abington Heights. You’re expected to compete and win a league title, you’re expected to win a district championship and you’re expected to win at least one state game and definitely make a run. So, that’s the standard. It hasn’t changed as long as I’ve been there, and I don’t think it’s changed as long as Coach (Jeff) McLane and (Ken) Bianchi have been there either. So, it’s been a long time.

Do you have any plans for after high school: I know I want to go to college. I want to play in college, and I’m starting to narrow down my options and a decision will probably be coming soon.

Do you play any other sports at the school: No, but I might try volleyball this year.

Do you have any superstitions or rituals before a game: We have the most superstitious team out there. My superstition right now is I have Mario Kart Mac and Cheese before every game. We have an assistant coach who got it for me before one of my games and I had a great game. Now, I’ve got to have it before every single game. That’s my superstition.

Favorite food: Pappas’ Pizza

Favorite sports teams: Cincinnati Bengals, Boston Celtics, Notre Dame for football and Duke for basketball.

Three people you’d like to have dinner with: Jared McCain, Matt Damon and Kevin Hart.

Athletes you admire: Joe Burrow, Jayson Tatum, Jared McCain.