ATHENS HOLDS OFF WAVERLY, 61-53; ADVANCE TO FINALS OF VALLEY CHRISTMAS TOURNEY
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | December 28, 2021 | Photo courtesy David Alliger
WAVERLY— Athens used a 10-0 run that bridged the final two quarters to
take the lead, then held off Waverly down the stretch for a 61-53 win
here Tuesday night in the opening round of the annual boys Valley
Christmas Basketball Tournament.
"It was an unbelievable game—
both ways, these kids just battled," said Athens coach Jim Lister.
"They've known each other forever, and I knew it was going to be a war
tonight.
"Coach Judson is such a good basketball coach, I knew
he's had his kids ready to go, and we would have to play great
basketball to win this game.
"Our first goal for this season was
to win the Christmas Tournament, so this puts us in position to do that
Thursday night," added Lister.
"I'm proud of the guys," said
Waverly coach Lou Judson. "You look at a team like (Athens) and the size
they have, and the talent they have, you would think that they should
be able to handle us.
"These guys fought all the way to the end,
and we had opportunities to win that basketball game several times
tonight," noted Judson. "But, at key moments of the game, we did not do
the things basketball teams need to do to win games; that's the bottom
line.
"We had too many wasted possessions," added Judson.
Despite the miscues, Judson was pleased with his team's performance.
"Elite
teams find ways to win that basketball game "¦ we committed too many
costly turnovers and were sloppy with the ball, maybe trying to do a
little too much, but give credit to their defense," he said. "Athens is
long and athletic, and they force you a long way away from the basket.
"We executed what we wanted to do tonight, but what are you going to do?" added Judson. "(Athens) is a good basketball team."
Waverly
came out of the gate hot, with sophomore Joey Tomasso and senior
Brennan Traub knocking down 3-pointers to give the Wolverines a 6-1
lead, which it stretched to 12-5 with 2:44 remaining in the first
quarter.
The Wildcats closed the opening stanza with a 10-5
spurt, fueled by a 3-pointer and a driving lay-up by junior Mason
Lister, to trim the deficit to 16-15.
Tomasso opened the second
quarter with a deep 3-pointer to make it 19-15, but Lister buried a
3-pointer from the corner to trigger a 9-0 run that put Athens up 24-19
with 5:47 remaining in the first half.
Brennan Traub answered
with five points— the first bucket off a nifty feed from Tomasso, and
the second a deep 3-pointer— to tie the game at 24-24 midway through the
second quarter.
Lister connected for a pair of buckets,
sandwiched around a pair of free throws by junior Chris Mitchell, to
give the Wildcats a 30-24 lead with 2:01 remaining in the first half.
Waverly
closed the gap to 30-28, but Mitchell made a free throw, and scored on a
lay-up off a bullet pass into the low block from senior J.J. Babcock
with 34 seconds left in the half to put the Wildcats up 33-28 at the
intermission.
Lister scored 18 of his team-high 21 points in the
first half, and also had nine rebounds, while Mitchell scored all five
of his points in the second quarter.
"(Mason) was focused
tonight, I'm super-proud of him," said coach Lister. "He was shooting
well, pounding the boards, and looking down the court "¦ I was just
thrilled with his game tonight, it was just terrific.
"And what
about Chris Mitchell," added Lister. "He's working hard every day in
practice "¦ he's putting in the time, and it paid off tonight. I'm just
thrilled with his game tonight."
Athens stretched its lead to
seven points, at 35-28, on a bucket by Babcock in the opening moments of
the third quarter, but a 3-pointer and a bucket in transition by
Brennan Traub trimmed the gap to 35-33 with 6:09 remaining in the third
quarter.
Senior Tucker Brown answered with a 3-pointer, and
Babcock added a free throw with 4:15 remaining to make it 39-33, but
senior Brady Blauvelt canned a trey, and Brennan Traub converted a steal
into a lay-up to close the gap to 39-38 with 3:36 left in the third.
After
a free throw by Lister, Tomasso scored on a driving lay-up to tie the
game, and Brennan Traub buried another 3-pointer to give Waverly a 43-40
lead with 41 seconds remaining. Moments later, Brown made a pair of
free throws to trim the lead to 43-42 entering the final eight minutes.
Brown
turned a steal into a lay-up just 25 seconds into the fourth quarter to
give Athens the lead for good at 44-43, then Lister, Babcock, and
freshman Kolsen Keathley, off a beautiful bounce pass to the low blocks
from Lister, added buckets to make it 50-43 with 4:04 remaining in the
game.
Tomasso drained a runner and a 3-pointer, sandwiched around
a pair of free throws by Athens senior Nalen Carling, to close the gap
to 52-48 with 2:58 remaining.
After Athens missed the front end
of a one-and-one, Brennan Traub scored on a short jumper to cut the
deficit to 52-50 with 1:42 left in the contest, but the Wildcats closed
the game with a 9-3 spurt.
After a bucket by senior Troy
Pritchard in the low post made it 54-50, Babcock hauled down a defensive
rebound and fired a full-court outlet pass to Brown for a lay-up with
48 seconds remaining to make it 56-50.
Brennan Traub kept
Waverly's hopes alive with his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 26
seconds remaining, but Babcock made 3 of 4 free throws, and Carling was 2
of 2 in the final 16.6 seconds to seal the win.
The Wildcats finished the game with 11 assists in 20 total field goals.
"We
passed the ball very well," said Lister. "It's something we've been
working on since we started in November "¦ our half-court offense.
"We
struggled with that last year," he noted. "We put a lot of offenses in
this year, and we've spent a lot of time in practice working on it, and
I think it's starting to pay off.
"Transition has been our
game," Lister added. "We have no problem running up and down the court,
we'll run up and down the court with anybody, but now we have both, and
it's working."
Brown had 14 points, six steals, and four
assists for the Wildcats, while Babcock added 12 points and nine
rebounds, Carling chipped in with five points and three steals, and
Pritchard grabbed three rebounds.
Brennan Traub led Waverly with
23 points, three rebounds, and two steals, while Tomasso added 20
points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and six rebounds
"Those two have predominantly been our scoring this year," said Judson. "I thought they both played well.
"We just need more scoring out of a third guy— consistently, which I think is going to come," he added.
Liam
Traub chipped in with four points and one blocked shot, and senior
Davis Croft recorded seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocked
shots for the Wolverines, while Blauvelt had three rebounds and two
steals, and junior Nate DeLill grabbed three boards.
Waverly,
now 3-3, hosts Sayre Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the consolation
game, while Athens squares off with Towanda Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the
championship tilt at Sayre High School.
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