ATHENS CLOSES STRONG IN 52-37 WIN OVER WELLSBORO
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | February 7, 2022 | Photo courtesy Lance Larcom
WELLSBORO — Thanks in part to a switch back to full-court pressure with
five minutes remaining, Athens closed the game with a 16-2 run in a
52-37 win over Wellsboro here Monday night in NTL Large School Division
girls basketball action.
After Wellsboro’s Ella Posada scored
with 6:02 remaining to trim the Athens lead to one point, at 36-35, the
Wildcats had three offensive rebounds in a row in an attempt to push the
lead back to three points, but turned the ball over before it could get
off its fourth shot of the possession.
Athens coach Brian Miller then called a time out, and put his team back into a full-court press.
“We
wanted to pressure them the whole game, but we got into a little bit of
foul trouble, so we had to take it off, which hurt our scoring
opportunities,” he said.
“We wanted to turn up the pressure after
the time out to create some more scoring opportunities, which we did,”
added Miller. “And once (Emma) Coolidge fouled out, we dialed it up a
little bit more.”
Wellsboro turned the ball over on its first
possession after the time out when freshman Addy Wheeler came up with a
steal and full-court pass to junior Emma Bronson for a lay-up to make it
38-35 with 4:09 remaining.
After a steal in the press, Macik
scored in the low post off a nice entry pass from Wheeler, then added a
free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play to make it
41-35 with 3:43 left in the game.
After another turnover, Bronson
knocked down two free throws to make it 43-35 with 3:17 remaining,
prompting a Wellsboro timeout.
Wellsboro quickly beat the Athens
press on its next possession with Maddy Mascho’s lay-up closing the gap
to 43-37 with 3:06 left in the contest.
After an Athens timeout,
the Lady Wildcats began to milk the clock, and made 4 of 6 free throws
to take a 47-37 lead with 1:20 remaining.
Following a Wellsboro
turnover, Bronson connected with Macik on a “TD pass” off the in-bounds
pass for a lay-up to make it 49-37 with 1:01 left in the game.
“Emma
Bronson had a nice fourth quarter, and went 3-for-4 from the foul
line,” said Miller, “And, Caydence (Macik) was dominant in the second
half.
“Aside from scoring, Addy (Wheeler) had the most solid game
from start to finish — pressuring the basketball, getting the ball to
girls in areas they can score, and not turning the ball over,” noted
Miller.
“As a coach, I appreciate what she does,” added Miller. “It’s not all about scoring. She played a great floor game.”
Junior
Karlee Bartlow made a free throw and a 3-pointer in the opening 70
seconds of the game to give the Lady Wildcats a 4-0 lead, and they never
trailed.
On several occasions, Athens built their lead to six or seven points, only to have Wellsboro close the gap to one or two points.
“That’s
a credit to them and their coach,” said Miller. “They are a good team,
and coach Davis is an outstanding coach, who has been doing it for
years.
“He knows how to keep the game close with his game plan, and give his team a chance to win.
“Every
time we got the lead to a point where I thought we’d be in control, all
the sudden here comes Wellsboro — they’re executing and we’re not,”
added Miller. “Fortunately, we finished the game strong on a nice run.”
A bucket by Thompson pushed the Athens lead to 9-4 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
After
a bucket by Emma Coolidge trimmed the deficit to 9-6, junior Natalee
Watson scored off a feed from Bronson, and sophomore Mya Thompson, off
an assist from Wheeler, scored her third bucket of the opening stanza to
make it 13-6 with just 10 seconds remaining.
The teams traded
buckets until a pair of free throws by Coolidge with 1:53 remaining in
the half, and a 3-pointer by Chloe Brandenburg with 20 seconds left
closed the gap to 21-19 at the half.
Macik made 3 of 4 free throws in the opening 80 seconds of the second half to give Athens a 24-19 lead.
With
4:50 left in the third quarter, Brandenburg knocked down another
3-pointer to trim the deficit to 26-24, but senior Olivia Bartlow, off
an assist from Wheeler, and a Wheeler lay-up following a steal and
coast-to-coast drive extended the lead to 30-24 with 3:45 left.
Wellsboro
closed the gap to 34-33 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter on
a pair of free throws by Coolidge, but Thompson scored on the break to
make it 36-33, and Posada scored to set the stage for Athens’
game-closing blitz.
Macik led Athens with 23 points and eight
rebounds, while Karlee Bartlow had 10 points and five boards, and
Thompson had six points and one blocked shot.
Wheeler contributed
seven assists, five rebounds, seven steals, and two blocked shots,
while Bronson added five points, three rebounds, and three assists, and
Watson chipped in with four points.
Coolidge led Wellsboro with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Brandenburg added eight points.
With
the win, the Wildcats keep their hopes alive for a second-place finish
in the Large School Division, and a berth in the NTL Showdown.
“We
have four games left and they will dictate whether we make the Showdown
or not,” said Miller. “Hopefully, we beat Wyalusing, and the next game
means something.”
Miller says his team is approaching every game
as a playoff game, and he believes it will beneficial once the
postseason rolls around.
“Playing games that count down the
stretch to make your league final four is going to give us the pressure
we need when it comes to the Showdown, or District play, where every
possession determines whether we game to play another game or not,” he
said.
Athens hosts Wyalusing Tuesday, with the varsity game at 6 p.m., and the JV game to follow.
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