Athens clinches TVC-Ohio title for a third straight year
By: Caiel Woody
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THE PLAINS, Ohio (WOUB) – Staying home for the night, the Athens Bulldogs (17-3,10-0) have a chance to go win the TVC-Ohio conference tonight for a three peat, and can go undefeated in conference play during these last two games, but Tonight, Vinton County (13-7,8-2) has a chance to keep that from happening. Losing the first matchup 55-37, the Vikings have a chip on their shoulder heading into one of their last games of the season against a big rival. The Bulldogs would crush that chip and take this matchup, 70-33.
Both teams had trouble hitting their shots in the first quarter, putting up a lot of attempts, but not a lot of makes. Coach Brett Jones of Vinton County would then get very frustrated on the sidelines, and he would let his frustration show.
However, the lack of consistency did not stop Athens from taking a lead that they would never let go. The Bulldogs would close out the first quarter up 11-6, before they would score their way to a double-digit lead in the second.
Coming off injury, Brystol Stump became part of a duo with Ella Chapman to lead the charge for the Bulldogs during the first half. With Stump scoring six points and Chapman scoring 13. Eventually falling further behind the Vikings just could not keep up, closing out the half down 12 to the Bulldogs who had a nice 27-15 lead going into the locker room.
Vinton County could not find any ways to stop the points on top of points from Athens, who would have multiple girls scoring more than 10 points. They would keep the Vikings as far away from the game as they could. Taking an almost 20-point lead ending the third quarter up 47-26
During the final quarter, the Vikings would try their best to soften the blow, but the Bulldogs were not pulling their punches. They just kept scoring, scoring, and scoring. Vinton County never stopped fighting in the game. They even managed to put up just a few more points before the game ended, but they would eventually fall to Athens 70-33.
The constant scoring from Athens left no answer available from the Vikings. Chapman and Stump became a commanding duo on the court tonight, both scoring 17 points a piece, with a 15-point performance from Quinn Banks and a 12-point game from Lex Koopal. The team got to enjoy cutting the net after the game with their third straight TVC-Ohio win.
The Bulldogs will cap off their season, and four game home stint with a matchup against the River Valley Raiders on Thursday.
For the Vikings, this was their final game of the season. Now they look forward to the playoffs when they travel to Gallia Academy on Feb. 16.