When Athens is jumping into passing lanes, stealing the ball and turning play around on the fastbreak, it is at its best.
When the Bulldogs won their sectional last season, it was what they were known for. Graduated senior Griffin Lutz —a 1,000 point scorer — was the leader and the one that jumped in the lanes and stole the ball.
This year began without those steals creating easy baskets on the other end. In the last three games, however, the Bulldogs have stolen the ball 45 times. And those three games have all been wins for Athens.
Before the three-game winning streak, when the Bulldogs lost six of seven, they only recorded 51 steals.
The quick turnaround can be traced to one thing: resiliency
“We’ve seen about everything you can see in two years,” coach Mickey Cozart. “You just roll with it.”
Athens (6-9, 5-3 Tri-Valley Conference Ohio) hopes to continue its strong defensive run Tuesday night against Jackson.
The ability to score off turnovers is key to the Bulldogs offensive success. The 56 points Athens scored over its winning streak needs to continue and grow to continue the recent run of wins the Bulldogs have pulled off.
If the Bulldogs aren’t getting easy buckets on the fastbreak and they have to slow down into their half-court offense, there may be struggles if the Bulldogs’ shooting stroke is not locked in.
Post play like Athens had Saturday against Logan Elm could be the answer to the potential problem of poor shooting. Justin Hynes led the way in that regard with ten of his 13 points coming in the paint. Athens had 34 of its 49 points come from inside in the game.
“When we were patient, I thought Justin did a real good job in the post,” Cozart said.
But, with most things around a high school basketball team, some improvements can be made.
“We had a lot of turnovers,” Cozart said. “We got to clean some of that up. We have to have a locked in mentality from the time we walked into the gym to the time we get on the bus.”
Correction: A previous version of this report included the wrong photo. The article has been updated to include a photo that accurately reflects the story.
