The Athens High School boys basketball team (5-2) finally put it together on the road with a low-scoring, defensive-minded 42-36 victory against the Jackson Ironmen (2-4) Tuesday night.
Coach Jeff Skinner said it was the quality road victory he had been looking for from his team.
“We played with toughness, poise, IQ, and most importantly, together,” he said.
The game went back-and-forth from the start as the Bulldogs jumped to an early 9-4 lead and Jackson countered with a 10-5 run. Athens trailed 34-27 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter before holding the Ironmen to just two points the rest of the game.
The Bulldogs’ standout freshmen duo sealed the victory for Athens, mostly from the free throw line.
“Joe Burrow, when we had the lead and the basketball late, went to the line and made four in a row, which sealed the deal for sure,” Skinner said. “Ryan Luehrman also had a terrific shot in traffic in the last 45 seconds of the game to help put it away.”
Athens shot 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the stripe as a team.
The Bulldogs did struggle offensively with 18 turnovers, but Skinner attributed that and the low score to great defense on both sides.
“Jackson is a very good defensive team, and we’re pretty good defensively too,” he said. “The matchups were good for both of us and we know what they do. Defensively, we did a great job.”
Skinner said the Bulldogs specifically did well guarding Jackson’s best player.
“I thought we really did a good job of controlling Colt Chapman,” Skinner said. “He got 14, but he’s going to get that every night out, at least.”
Leading the way for Athens were Luehrman and seldom-used junior Jared Elmore, who hadn’t played more than 10 minutes since the first game of the year, which was a blowout. Both players chipped in with 10 points apiece. Burrow added six points, all from the free throw line, and a team-high seven rebounds.
Tuesday night’s game was Athens’ first without senior guard DeVon Sharp, who is now academically ineligible for the rest of the season.
Despite his loss, Athens moved forward with what was easily its most impressive road win of the season and left Skinner feeling good about his team’s performance.
“We played with a lot of poise and I was very proud of our team,” he said.
The Bulldogs play their third straight road game against Dublin Scioto on Friday.
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