At one point in the first half, Athens trailed by 13 points.
Despite this, Athens found itself tied with Vinton County at 44 with fewer than three seconds left in the game and possession of the ball, primed to hit a game-winning shot or take the contest to overtime.
The Bulldogs did neither.
Following a missed shot, Athens got called for a foul that allowed Vikings’ senior Austin Hitte drain to a game-winning free throw and sink the Bulldogs, 45-44.
Coach Mickey Cozart disagreed with the call.
“You let that go and let the players finish that game out in overtime,” he said.
This loss to Vinton County (7-5, 5-3 Tri-Valley Conference) marks the Bulldogs’ (9-4, 7-1 TVC) first conference loss this season. As a result, their lead over Alexander in the conference has diminished with only four TVC contests left in the season.
The Bulldogs had a rough opening quarter, only making two field goals and turning the ball over eight times.
Athens’ main bright spot of the first half offensively was junior Brayden Markins, who scored seven of their 15 first half points. Cozart knew he could count on Markins for energy.
“If you come watch practice, (Markins is) probably in a full-blown sweat before we start stretching,” Cozart said.
Going into the half, Athens trailed by 11, and Cozart realized something needed to change for the team.
“We told them they had to come out and play like men,” he said. “We got bullied in the first half, we weren’t finishing at the rim and we weren’t doing the basics of what we need to do to win a basketball game.”
However, in the second half, the Bulldogs showed the fight he felt they were missing, as they were able to tie up the contest heading into the final quarter.
A major contributor to that was the play of senior captain Justin Hynes, who scored 12 of Athens’ 17 points in the third quarter. He ended as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer with 16.
On the defensive side, Cozart noted that senior Logan Maxfield stepped up at the half to take on Vikings’ Gavin Arbaugh, who had an excellent first half scoring.
“Logan said ‘Let me take him full court,’” Cozart said. “He didn’t get very many looks in the second half.”
A factor Athens had to deal with in this game was having the starting point guard, Elijah Williams, not play due to an injury. They moved senior Eli Chubb to point for against the Vikings and Cozart thought he played well despite not being a true point.
“Down the fourth quarter, (Chubb) made a lot of good decisions,” Cozart said.
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