Rockets take rematch win against Bulldogs in overtime
By: Andrew Rowan
Posted on:
WELLSTON, Ohio (WOUB) – The Athens Bulldogs (7-15, 4-8 in conference) traveled to Jackson County Tuesday night to take on the Wellston Rockets (15-4, 9-2 in conference) for the final game of their regular seasons. The two had already played against each other earlier in the year on Jan. 23, where it was the Rockets who came out as the winners. The Bulldogs took control early, but Wellston would find the second gear to tie it up, going into overtime to win 50-43.
The first quarter would be all Athens, as Wellston would struggle to make shots, and Athens capitalized with solid rebounding to take the early lead, going up 21-7.
Much would stay the same going into the second, with the Bulldogs using their aggression to their advantage to outboard the Rockets. Their physicality would come back to hurt them, however, recording five fouls in the quarter alone, which gave the Rockets a chance to get their feet underneath themselves to cut the deficit slightly, and went into the locker room at half down 30-22.
The two appeared to be evenly matched coming out at half, with both defenses locking down each other inside and beyond the arc. Rockets would find a crack in the Bulldogs’ scheme, however, as with a minute left in the quarter, Senior Rylan Long would get a steal and pass it to Junior Wes Briggs for a massive three-pointer; he would finish his night with 15 total points. That shot gave Wellston a boost of energy they desperately needed, still trailing 41-33 at the end of the third.
The Rockets kept knocking on Athens’ door, wearing them down by using their size. Down by two, Briggs would get the rebound and put it back up, taking the game into overtime at 43 all.
The Bulldogs’ mistakes would come back to haunt them, causing back-breaking fouls, allowing the Rockets to get easy points with free throws. With the clock winding down, Wellston kept good possession to walk away the winner after a neck-and-neck brawl, with a final score of 50-43.
With the win, Wellston finishes the season second in the TVC-Ohio, and Athens sixth. The two will look to tournament play going forward, as the Bulldogs will hit the road to play Miami Trace, and the Rockets will host Northwest, with both games scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. on Feb. 24.