Mickey Cozart flashed a smile, which sometimes can be a rarity. It seemed like an odd occurrence; his team had given up a 14-point halftime lead and was only up two.
Vinton County’s gym was the loudest it had been all night. Athens, however, held tight when it counted and won 54-51 against Tri-Valley Conference Ohio leader Vinton County on Tuesday night.
As the crowd roared and Vinton County threw up a potential game-tying 3-pointer that missed. And as the ball floated through the air, Justin Hynes grabbed the final rebound and Cozart’s smile grew a little more.
“If you don’t live for a gym like this, and you can’t smile in those moments, you shouldn’t be coaching,” Cozart said. “At one point I told somebody, ‘this is fun,’ this is what you want.”
Cozart could smile because he knew his team was something Tuesday that he had been preaching about all year: tough. He knew his team needed toughness, both physical and mental to win big games.
This might have been the biggest, most important game so far for the Bulldogs. And the Bulldogs got the win in that big, important moment.
“The last minute and a half defined that win,” Cozart said. “We don’t win that game if we don’t do what we did that last minute and a half.”
The game wasn’t always as close as it was at the end. After an even first quarter, Athens outscored Vinton County 25-11 in the second. But as Vinton County cut down on the Athens lead, the game became the fun atmosphere Cozart talked about.
When the Vikings responded to the second quarter run the Bulldogs made, it was expected by Cozart and his team.
“They made a run,” Cozart said. “I thought we handled it pretty well, I wouldn’t have liked it to get that close, but it is what it is.”
With about five minutes in the second quarter, Logan Maxfield stole the ball, and passed it up to a fast-breaking Micah Saltzman, who was fouled as he laid the ball in the hoop. This put the Bulldogs up three. Isaiah Butcher and Maxfield then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to go up nine. The Bulldogs added five more points to their lead heading into halftime.
The win pulls Athens (5-9, 5-3 TVC Ohio) within one game of Vinton County (9-5, 6-2 TVC Ohio). The Bulldogs still need help if they want to compete for the conference title, but Tuesday was a start.
“This was a must,” Cozart said. “We had to have this win to even have a shot.”
