Sports
Bulldogs Fall in Season Opener to Loveday, Gallia Academy
By: Michael Roth
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When the Athens Bulldogs opened up their season Friday night, they welcomed Zach Loveday, who many recruiting services call the top player in the state, and his Gallia Academy Blue Devils.
The Bulldogs knew it was going to be a tall task to shut down Loveday. The 7-foot-1-inch junior already holds offers from prestigious NCAA Division I programs like Louisville, Florida, Indiana, Ohio State, and many others.
Athens (0-1) made Loveday work for every one of his 17 points, but that was enough to lead the Blue Devils (1-0) to a 45-35 victory over the Bulldogs in both teams’ season opener.
Athens started off slow from the field, only scoring seven points in the first quarter. These struggles continued all night.
“We shot rough from the field all night, only 28%,” Athens head coach Mickey Cozart said. “We also can’t miss that many layups in a tight game.”
Elijah Williams had eight points for the Bulldogs and Logan Maxfield had three 3-pointers to score his nine points tonight, however no Bulldog hit double figures in scoring.
The Bulldogs hung with the Blue Devils for a majority of the game, but never led.
“It was a good challenge but we came up a little bit short,” Cozart said. “If we play our best game we might win that one, but we didn’t tonight.”
The Bulldogs know that games like this will get them ready for the conference season, where Athens typically has the size to be a force in the post.
“We want to be tough and physical, for the TVC we are a big team,” Cozart said. “Justin Hynes and Isaiah Butcher can compete down low with most in the area.”
Loveday was the main attraction for the fans tonight, and he didn’t disappoint, finishing with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and a ferocious dunk that brought the visiting Gallia fans to their feet.
Loveday was stretched outside most of the night by Butcher, who attempted six three pointers, but he was used to this from his summer Amateur Athletic Union games.
“All summer I played on the Adidas gauntlet series and I played a bunch of stretch fours who are around 6-8,” Loveday said.
Loveday credits that AAU experience, especially one teammate, in helping him begin his transition to high major basketball.
“Oscar Tshiebwe, a West Virginia commit, he taught me a lot about how to run the floor and play physically every time,” Loveday said.
Loveday and the Gallia Blue Devils will be a tough game for all their opponents this season, and their goal is to make it to the Schottenstein Center to play for a state championship.
Athens knows that these experiences against players as talented as Loveday and teams as talented as Gallia will pay off in the conference season and the playoffs.
The Bulldogs travel to Piketon to take on Waverly this Saturday. Gallia Academy continues their play against TVC-Ohio teams, heading to Bidwell to face River Valley on Tuesday.