Sports
Athens Goes Up and Down
< < Back toThe Athens Lady Bulldogs squared off against Meigs and Vinton County in a pair of matchups, while the boys from Athens faced off with Alexander.
On Dec 19, Meigs came to town to take on the Lady Bulldogs. When the dust settled after a hard fought game, the Lady Bulldogs fell to Meigs 51-41, despite sophomore Kaylee Stewart, picking up her third double double in a row. Stewart scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds on the night. Emma Harter and Laura Manderick saw double digit point figures for Athens, with Harter scoring 12 and Manderick adding 13 points.
Coach Paul McNeal said that there was a four-minute span early in the third quarter that turned the tide of the game. Coach McNeal said the Bulldogs faltered some defensively, and gave up a few turnovers as well, allowing Meigs to go on a 24-12 run.
The girls were back in action when they traveled to face Vinton County. In this contest in was all Vinton County, as the Lady Vikings went on to win 47-27.
The boys from Athens found a bit more success this week in their lone contest of the week on Dec 20, when they took on the Alexander Spartans. The Bulldogs got an early Christmas present, taking the win 39-26.
Coach Mickey Cozart said of the win, “In the first half we didn’t really get into the flow of what we do, I think we were a little amped up and it took us some time to settle down. Plus, Alexander plays very strong on the defensive end.”
The second half smoothed out for the Bulldogs, and they began to play more like themselves, according to Coach Cozart.
“The third quarter has been our strongest quarter all year,” Cozart said.
The Bulldogs were able to get some early steals, which led to easy buckets, helping them to gain momentum. Coach Cozart finished by saying, “When you play a team like Alexander, all the easy ones you can get are important. For us, it was a great TVC win.”
Griffin Lutz led all Bulldog scorers in every aspect of the box score with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
The Lady Bulldogs fell to 1-9, 0-5 in the TVC after the games, while the boys are now 5-1, and 3-1 in TVC play.
The Lady Bulldogs return to action on Dec 29 when they host Gallia Academy. The Athens Boys Basketball team will host Logan Elm in non-TVC action on Dec 27, and Marietta on Jan 3.