Sports
Athens Week In Review: Dec. 15-22
By: Kellen Becoats
Posted on:
GIRLS
The Athens Lady Bulldogs continued their strong form at home, remaining undefeated as they took on the Logan Lady Chieftains and the Wellston Golden Rockets.
The Lady Bulldogs, (9-0, 4-0) led by star junior guard Dominique Doseck, beat Logan (2-1, 0-1) by a score of 64-52 on Monday, Dec. 16.
It was a special night for Doseck, as she scored her 1,000th career point and exploded for 13 second half points after Logan held her to only four in the first half.
Logan tried their hardest to make the game competitive against one of the toughest teams in the county, and despite holding Athens’ star player to only four first half points, the Lady Bulldogs still took a 28-19 lead into the half.
The Lady Chieftans were within single digits late in the fourth quarter, facing a 56-50 deficit with 3:47 remaining, but it wasn’t enough, as Doseck left McAfee Gymnasium with the game ball and the win.
Senior forward Hannah DeBruin led the team with 18 points and junior guard Olivia Harris added 13 points.
Athens also decimated the Wellston Golden Rockets (0-1, 0-1) on Thursday, Dec. 19 by a score of 52-19.
The Lady Bulldogs dominated the game and only let Wellston score in garbage time.
The game kept Athens record unblemished. This means they will take their undefeated record to McAfee Gymnasium for one more home game against Gallia Academy on Monday, Dec. 23, before starting a tough stretch of six away games facing teams such as Warren and Alexander.
BOYS
The Athens Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0) rebounded from a heartbreaking 60-59 loss to Logan Elm by beating both Alexander and Vinton County.
The Bulldogs comfortably beat Alexander 58-40 at home on Tuesday, Dec. 17. It was a hard-fought game and each time Athens found a way to get ahead, the Spartans would find a way to lower the deficit.
Bulldogs head coach Jeff Skinner was happy with his team’s performance and talked about the other teams and their management in the area.
He said that there are great coaches in the area and to get a win against these teams is a real accomplishment.
Sophomore guard Ibi Watson led the team with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and his three consecutive shots from beyond the perimeter started a 18-7 run in the third quarter that saw Athens begin to pull away from the Spartans.
Freshman guard Griffin Lutz also contributed 17 points, alongside four assists while forward Joe Burrow underwhelmed with five points.
Burrow would rebound as he, alongside Watson, would lead the Bulldogs to victory against the Vinton County Vikings 60-42.
This was Athens’ first away game and they performed well, establishing themselves early, as the only tie of the game came at 3-3 and they never trailed in the contest.
The Vikings were held to 12 points in the first half and only managed to score more as the Bulldogs entered what Skinner called “garbage time” or when the bench players enter the game.
The headlining point of the game for the Bulldogs came in the third quarter, where they went 9-of-11, and stacked up 26 points to make it 44-23 and give the Vikings no virtual chance of redemption.
Burrow finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, a huge improvement over his previous game, while Watson contributed 18 points, six rebounds, six assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
Ryan Luehrman didn’t exactly fill the stat sheet, even though he had 11 points and six rebounds, but his defensive presence off the bench provided a great spark for Athens.
The next challenge for the Bulldogs comes in the form of three away games in Florida before finally returning to McAfee Gymnasium for a rivalry game against Nelsonville-York on Jan. 3.