NO LETDOWN FOR WILDCATS; ATHENS BESTS NEB, 65-56
By: Bob Baker | AthensWildcats.com | January 16, 2021 | Photo courtesy David Alliger
ATHENS – Going into Saturday’s NEB-Athens boys basketball contest both
coaches were worried how much their respective teams might have left in
the gas tank.
After all, just the night before, Northeast
Bradford coach Paul Burgert had watched his Panther team erase an early
21-point deficit before eventually bowing to the undefeated Canton.
Athens
coach Jim Lister cheered on his young Wildcat team as it overcame a
fourth-quarter, 16-point deficit to take a hard-fought, one-point
victory over Wellsboro.
Lister’s team had no letdown here as the
Wildcats trailed just once – on the game’s opening basket – and scored a
65-56 win over the visiting Panthers.
J.J. Babcock’s 17 points led three Athens players in double-figures as the Wildcats improve to 3-2 on the year.
“I’ve
been waiting for them to come out of their shell,” said Lister
afterward. “Our last three games, we started slow. I’m happy we came
right out at the opening tip.”
The Wildcats slowly built themselves a 21-14 advantage at the end of the opening eight minutes.
Employing
some half-court trapping defense in the second quarter, the Wildcats
were able to stretch their lead to 10 points – 34-24 – with a Babcock
3-pointer at the top of the circle.
Tucker Brown, off a steal of a
Northeast inbounds pass, upped the gap to 12 before Lucas Crown
answered for the Panthers. Another Babcock basket, with just four
seconds remaining in the half, produced a 38-26 advantage at the break.
Babcock
put together a seven of 11 outing from the floor as he produced a solid
game from both the outside and taking the basketball to the bucket. He
also would pull down nine rebounds.
“We didn’t handle their press
well,” noted Burgert after watching his team commit 15 turnovers on the
evening – 10 in the opening half. “That really took us out of our
rhythm.”
Burgert added his Panther team is still learning how to play together.
“Lucas (Crown) is our one player returning with significant time from last year. We’re a new bunch of guys.”
Consecutive
buckets from Mason Lister, Babcock and Shayne Reid, to open the third
stanza, put the Athens lead at 44-26, while the Panthers went cold for
the first 2:50.
Ethan Finch and Dan Seeley countered with back-to-back buckets for Northeast, but the Wildcats were calmly taking control.
The
two teams exchanged baskets until Nalen Carling’s follow-up bucket and
free throw, plus Lister’s basket gave Athens a 20-point lead. Athens
would take a 57-39 advantage into the final eight minutes.
There,
the Panthers found some leftover energy as they attempted to claw their
way back into the game. Twice they got the gap down to 12 points – the
first on consecutive baskets by Crown and Nick Beers. However, the
second time occurred too late in the game on another Seeley basket at
63-51.
Griffin Stein netted an Athens basket prior to consecutive Northeast buckets to close out the final seconds.
“I
was more worried about what we would have left after Friday’s game with
Canton,” added Burgert. “One thing about us is, you never have to worry
about a lack of effort.”
Crown set the pace with 18 points for
the Panthers, off to a 0-3 start on the season. Beers, in his first
season with Northeast after North Rome elected not to have a basketball
season, chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds. Seeley finished
with eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Finch totaled seven
points.
Lister added 14 points and six rebounds for Athens.
Brown, on a 6 of 7 outing from the field, netted 12 points, while Reid
finished with eight. Carling set the pace with a team-high nine
rebounds. Stein totaled seven points.
Athens now gets ready for a Monday night showdown with Valley rival Sayre on the Redskins’ home court.
“It’s Athens-Sayre,” noted Lister in taking a quick peak toward Monday. “Both teams will be ready to go.”
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