Athens will open the season against one team with a top-50 recruit in the nation and another team who went to the district finals.
Needless to say, it’ll be a tough weekend.
The Bulldogs start the 2018-2019 campaign in The Plains when they play the Gallia Academy Blue Devils at Charles McAfee Gymnasium on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs will have their hands full trying to score on Zach Loveday, a 7-foot center who is currently the 51st best prospect in the 2020 class, according to 247Sports.
When talking about the Blue Devils’ star player, coach Mickey Cozart kept it simple.
“He’s a big boy.”
Cozart also said that Gallia Academy will be a lot to handle, and the Bulldogs will have to come out strong if they want to compete.
Athens and Gallia Academy opened their seasons against each other last year as well, with Bulldogs losing 56-32. In this game, the Bulldogs were blocked five times, with most of those coming from Loveday.
The day after they face the Blue Devils, the Bulldogs will travel to Piketon for the first ever Piketon Classic to play the Waverly Tigers. Tip-off time will be Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
The Tigers will prove to be another tough opponent for Athens, as they are coming off a year in which they made it to the district finals. They came up just a few points shy of beating Unioto, though.
Cozart is prepared for a certain type of basketball when playing the Tigers.
“Waverly is a super aggressive team,” Cozart said. “They’re going to bring a lot of pressure, and we just have to be able to withstand that.”
With two top tier teams in their way to start the season, the Bulldogs will be tested early.
Cozart says that this stretch of games to open the season was not an intentional decision, but rather a result of the contractual out-of-conference games just happening to start off with intensity.
“The schedule is what it is.” Cozart said. “These out-of-league contracts are usually a three-year deal, so it’s just where it falls.”
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