Sports
Nelsonville-York’s Defense Swarms Over Athens
By: Matt Cudahy
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The Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes (10-3, 6-1) and the Athens Lady Bulldogs (1-11, 1-6) have battled in some hard-fought games over the past few years. This season, however, has been a different story.
On Monday night, the Lady Buckeyes completed the season sweep defeating the Lady Bulldogs, 57-21. In the two games combined Nelsonville-York outscored Athens, 105-43.
A major reason for the Lady Bulldogs’ trouble this season can be attributed to their sloppy play on the offensive end of the court. The miscues were on full display in Athens’ 11th loss of the season.
“They did a great job trapping up early and we didn’t do a good job rotating and reversing the basketball,” said Paul McNeal, Athens’ head coach. “We have to do a better job of that.”
The Lady Bulldogs turned the ball over 30 times, providing Nelsonville-York with numerous easy fast-break opportunities. Athens’ guard Alexis McCollum, along with her teammates, also had trouble finishing in the paint, collectively shooting 5-30 from the field.
For most of the season Nelsonville-York has relied on sophomore guard Jessie Addis to provide the spark on offense, however the Lady Buckeyes were not in dire need of her services Monday night. Addis finished with a modest 8 points and 6 assists.
Nelsonville-York’s senior forward Kaitlyn Hurd had one of her strongest games of the season. Hurd totaled 15 points, and after missing her first shot attempt she would not miss another shot for the rest of the game finishing 6 for 7 from the field.
“We just try to get out and run, and Jessie (Addis) does a great job of finding people,” said Doug Whiteman, Nelsonville-York’s head coach. “Kaitlyn (Hurd) did a really good job running the floor and she is so athletic and we feel she’s going to be faster than most post players on most nights.”
The Lady Bulldogs will be traveling to Warren on Thursday to battle the Lady Warriors. While, Nelsonville-York will have a tough test on Thursday as well, when they take on the Vinton County Lady Vikings.