Athens did not have a strong start in its game with Nelsonville-York on Friday.
The Bulldogs had four first-quarter turnovers, their shots were not falling and the Buckeyes scored seven unanswered to help create an early hole for the Bulldogs.
Then the Bulldogs outscored the Buckeyes 23-3 in the second quarter.
The second quarter firmly put Athens (11-4, 8-1 Tri-Valley Conference-Ohio) in control of this game, leading to a 62-48 win over Nelsonville-York (6-10, 3-5 TVC) on Athens’ senior night. The Bulldogs’ victory marks 15 straight wins over the Buckeyes.
Coach Mickey Cozart has seen runs like that all season.
“We play a quarter like that just about every game we play,” he said.
During the dominant second quarter, the Bulldogs made four of their eight 3-pointers for the game. Eight 3-pointers made is also a season high for the Bulldogs.
This performance from beyond the arc was one Cozart has been waiting on all season.
“Took us 15 games, didn’t it?” he said.
A major contributor for the Bulldogs was senior guard Elijah Williams, who missed the last two games with an injury. He had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench in his return.
Cozart said Williams hasn’t even been able to participate in practice during the period he was out, so a good game against the Buckeyes was important for him to get back to full strength.
“(Williams) hasn’t even picked up a basketball in 10 days,” Cozart said. “The plan tonight was to get him a few minutes here and there, and we ended up playing him a little more because we thought he looked good.”
Williams said that it was a struggle for him to get going at the beginning of the game, but as he logged more minutes, he grew more comfortable.
“It took me a minute to learn how to dribble again,” he said. “It was rough, but the extra time that (Cozart) gave me definitely helped me out tremendously.
Williams along with seniors Logan Maxfield and Justin Hynes each had ten points. Junior Brayden Markins led all scorers with 15.
Defensively, Athens focused on stopping Mikey Seel, who had 18 points when the Buckeyes and Bulldogs first faced off this season. In this game however, Athens were able to limit him to just eight points.
“I thought we did a very good job on him tonight,” Cozart said. “Logan (Maxfield) did a great job (defending him).”
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