Sports
Athens Cruises To Victory Over Wellston On Senior Night
By: Nick Ursini
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Emmy Beck-Aiden’s final game at McAfee Gymnasium will be a game she will remember for a long time.
The Athens Lady Bulldogs (5-17) finished their regular season with a victory over the Wellston Lady Golden Rockets (9-11) 64-44 on Senior Night.
Athens started the game exactly how they drew it up. They scored first and played great defense on Wellston’s first two possessions. The Golden Rockets retaliated with a 7-0 run to take the lead.
The Lady Bulldogs stepped up to the challenge with a 14-0 run to end the first quarter with the lead 16-7.
Junior Kaylee Stewart and Sophomore Laura Manderick ran the Athens offense to perfection. Pick and rolls, screens and easy layups set up the Athens lead.
Wellston came out with a full-court press and a fast-tempo offense in the second quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs were ready for it. Athens broke the press, got easy transition layups and increased their lead to 33-16 at the halftime break.
Coming out of the locker room, Wellston continued to press trying to throw Athens off their game, but nothing was working. Athens answered every challenge with their own great play.
The Lady Bulldogs increased their lead to 52-32 at the end of the third quarter.
Stewart, Manderick and Emma Harter all put up double digits for the Lady Bulldogs.
Stewart led the way with 19 points, Manderick dropped 17 points and Harter added 14 with most of them coming in the second half.
Beck-Aiden, the Lady Bulldogs’ lone senior, finished her final home game with 2 points and 3 rebounds.
Athens blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to Wellston during their first matchup on January 4th. Tonight, they kept their foot on the gas and didn’t surrender their lead.
Athens finishes their season with a 5-17 record and 3-9 in TVC-Ohio play.
The Lady Bulldogs get one week to rest up and prepare for their matchup with the Sheridan Generals (17-3) in the first round of the postseason on Thursday, February 15th.
Tip-off is set for 8 P.M. at Logan High School.