Athens shuts down Federal Hocking at home.
By: Ollie Hicks
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THE PLAINS, Ohio (WOUB) – The Athens Bulldogs hosted a cross-TVC matchup as they faced off against the Federal Hocking Lancers. After a competitive first quarter, the Bulldogs slowed down the Lancers and seemed to have almost every shot fall, winning 58-37.
The teams traded blows to start the first quarter; Cam Joy scored 12 of the Lancers’ 14 points in the first while Wren Ballew was the engine for Athens with nine points. The Bulldogs ended with a one-point lead, 15-14.
Yet the script flipped in the second quarter. The Bulldogs came out strong on defense and were hitting lots of their shots, going on a 12-2 run to start the quarter. Athens was able to force their way back into the game late in the quarter but were still down 33-25 at half.
Athens continued to score at will in the third while the Lancers went cold. Cam Joy was unable to get good looks, which slowed the whole offence down. After a slow start, Zachariah Mullins turned his early good looks from early in the game into buckets, many being second chance after offensive rebounds. Another dominant quarter extended Athens’ lead to 13, 48-35.
The Bulldogs kept the momentum going and forced a lot of turnovers to start the fourth. Athens called a timeout with six minutes left in the game. From that point, the Lancers did not score any more points in the game. Athens continued to score and finished the game with a 21-point win, 58-37.
Athens was aided by strong performances by three players. Wren Ballew scored 12 points, most of those coming in the first quarter, and chipped in a rebound and an assist. Zachariah Mullins also scored twelve and racked up eight rebounds with four assists. Collin Chapman was the star for the Bulldogs, scoring 17 points, adding three rebounds and two assists, as well as a steal and a block.
Cam Joy was the bright spot for the Lancers, scoring 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing four assists. He didn’t have much help in the scoring realm, as the Lancers’ second leading scorer was Mosiah Cottrill with only seven.
Federal Hocking head coach Josh Vernon spoke on his team’s offensive struggles,
“We came out flat, we didn’t execute what we wanted to, we weren’t rebounding early as well as we wanted to … we were forcing up some shots, just not what we wanted to do.”
The Lancers head to Circleville to face New Hope Christian Academy on Jan. 24. Athens will host conference opponent Wellston, who currently sits second in the TVC-Ohio, on Jan. 23.