Hardwood Heroes Sports
Athens Can’t Overcome Hot Shooting from Braves
By: Jack Demmler
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ATHENS, Ohio—There is a common saying that all good things must come to an end. That saying was a painful reality for Athens on Saturday night as they lost in the district semifinals to the seven-seed Logan Elm Braves 65-47.
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs arrived at the Convocation Center seeking to make their first district final since 2013. However, the Braves looked for revenge from last year’s sectional final loss to Athens.
In basketball, another common saying is that you live and die by the three-point line. The Braves were alive and well as they showed early signs of what was to come for the remainder of the game.
In the first quarter, Jason Sailor, Jeremy Wietelmann and Luke Baldwin each hit a shot from behind the arc as Logan Elm finished the first quarter with an 11-6 lead.
The second quarter only got worse for the Bulldogs as they were outscored 21-12 to allow the Braves to head to the locker room with a 32-18 lead.
The Braves shot an impressive 54% and 50% from behind the arc in those two quarters, respectively. While Logan Elm benefited off an impressive shooting performance, the Bulldogs struggled to find the bottom of the net. Athens finished the first half shooting 32% from the field and missed all four of their shots from three-point range.
“They shot extremely well, we didn’t” Coach Mickey Cozart said, “There were some other things we didn’t do. We didn’t rebound the ball very well.”
The Brayden bunch were the Bulldogs’ halftime leading scorers as they combined for 10 of the team’s 18 first half points.
It is very difficult for a team to continue to have a hot shooting night. However, not only did the Braves continue their impressive shooting, they shot better coming out of the locker room. As they ended up shooting 60% from the field at the end of the game. Isaac Ward owned the third quarter as he finished with 11 points for the quarter.
The Braves dropped another 21 points in the quarter and went into the final quarter of play with a 53-33 lead.
Despite being down 20 points, Athens did not give up. Markins dropped nine fourth quarter points to cap off his 15-point performance in what proved to be his final game of his high school career.
The Bulldogs’ prime duo of the season combined for 29 of the team’s final points.
Ward lead in scoring for Logan Elm as he finished the night with 16 points. The Braves finished with four players in double figures.
Logan Elm will go on to play Warren March fifth in the Convo.