ATHENS EDGES MID-VALLEY, 42-40, FOR FIRST STATE PLAYOFF WIN SINCE 1956
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | March 8, 2022 | Photo courtesy David Alliger
SCRANTON — Senior J.J. Babcock made big play after big play, senior Ryan
Thompson canned a clutch 3-pointer, and senior Tucker Brown scored the
game-winning points for the second time in three postseason games as
Athens fended off a strong second-half effort by Mid-Valley to pull out a
42-40 win in the opening round of the PIAA Class 4A boys basketball
playoffs here Tuesday night at Lackawanna College.
It’s the first state playoff win for Athens program since 1956, and only the second in school history.
“It’s been a long time,” said Athens coach Jim Lister. “It’s an awesome win.
“I’m so happy for our kids, for our program, and for our school,” added Lister. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
Babcock said he wasn’t ready for his Athens playing career to end.
“It
was desperation,” he said. “It was win-or-go-home for us. We have a
bunch of seniors on this team, and we really did not want this to be our
last game.
“It feels great,” added Babcock. “Words can’t describe, it’s just a great feeling to keep our season moving forward.”
Brown,
who hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of Athens’ win
over Shamokin in the District 4 semifinals, said he and his teammates
have been through it before.
“We’ve been playing together since I
was in 8th-grade, and the rest of them have been playing together
longer than that,” he sad. “We know each other … we had to keep our
composure, and we did a pretty good job of it. It got a little chippy
and there were a lot of fouls, but in the end, we pulled it back
together and got the win.
“It’s unbelievable. I just can’t wait to play again.” added Brown.
“I think senior leadership played a big part, these kids have been playing together a long time,” said Lister.
“If
you look at this team, these senior are battle-tested over the last two
years,” noted Lister. “They’ve played some unbelievable basketball
games against some of the best teams around.
“These kids have
worked hard, and they deserve all the accolades they’re getting,” he
added. “They just don’t quit, no matter how tight it is. I love them for
that.”
Both team struggled out of the gate offensively, and
Babcock’s 3-pointer with 4:21 remaining in the first quarter gave the
Wildcats a 5-2 lead, but Danny Nemitz answered moments later for
Mid-Valley to tie the game.
Senior Nalen Carling scored off a
feed from Babcock with 2:35 left to make it 7-5, and Lister scored of an
assist from Babcock 45 seconds later to make it 9-5.
The
Spartans tied the game at 9-9 on a free throw with 6:39 remaining in the
first half, but Lister drained a 3-pointer from the top-of-the-key 26
seconds later to give the Wildcats a 12-9 lead.
Mid-Valley scored
back-to-back buckets to take a 13-12 lead with 4:48 remaining in the
first half, but the Wildcats started pounding the ball into the paint,
and finished the half to an 11-4 spurt to take a 24-16 lead into the
halftime locker room.
Babcock scored a pair of buckets in the
run, including a short jumper with 27 seconds remaining to give the
Wildcats their biggest lead of the game, at 24-15. Senior Troy Pritchard
scored the first bucket in the run, and Brown added a big 3-pointer
into the mix.
Lister was impressed with his team’s patience on offense in the first half.
“We worked on it last night for two hours,” he said. “We knew we were going to see man-to-man today.
“We
are constantly working on it — being patient, making cuts, getting the
ball to the right player, and try to get something in the paint,” added
Lister. “I thought we did that well in the first half, especially in the
last four minutes of the second quarter, which gave us a nice halftime
lead.”
The Spartans, however, seized the momentum to start the
second half, and used an 8-0 run to tie the game at 24-24 with 4:30
remaining in the third quarter.
“We stalled on offense,” said
Lister. “We came out in the second half and didn’t follow the plan. The
plan was to get the ball inside, and I thought we did a good job the
last three or four minutes of the second quarter — getting the ball
inside to J.J. (Babcock), and getting some easy buckets.
“I
wanted to come out in the third quarter and do that again, but
(Mid-Valley) switched up their defense, and I think it confused us a
little bit, and we let them crawl back into the game,” noted Lister.
The
teams battled evenly until Brown knocked down a pair of free throws
with 9.9 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 30-28 lead heading
into the final eight minutes.
Lister connected on a short jumper
with 6:58 left in the game to up the Athens advantage to 32-28, but
Nimitz answered with a 3-pointer, and Gabe Tanner knocked down a pair of
free throws to give the Spartans a 33-32 lead.
Athens missed the
front ends of two one-and-ones, sandwiched around a bucket by Tanner,
and trailed 35-32 with 4:51 remaining in the game.
With 4:01
remaining, Thompson drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie the
game at 35-35. Just 20 seconds later, after a steal by Babcock, Brown
scored on a strong drive to the bucket to give the Wildcats a 37-35
lead.
“How ‘bout Ryan Thompson coming off the bench and hitting
that big-time 3(-pointer) to tie the game,” said Lister. “Honestly, I
think that really sparked us … we saw the finish line at that point, and
finished strong.”
After junior Chris Mitchell drew a charge, Babcock scored in the low blocks with 3:12 left in the game to make it 39-35.
However, Nemitz and Tanner each went 2-for-2 at the line to tie the game at 39-39 with 50 seconds remaining.
The
Wildcats worked the ball on its next possession, then Brown took a pass
off a screen at the top-of-the-key, and drove hard to the bucket,
kissing it off the glass to make it 41-39 with 22 seconds in the game.
“I saw my teammates clear out, and I saw an opening. I took it hard, and hoped for the best,” said Brown.
“Down
the left-side of the lane is Tucker’s money,” said Lister. “If you give
him an inch there, he’s going to finish. It was a beautiful move, and a
great take.”
Mid-Valley rushed the ball up court, and in a
flurry that saw the ball in the hands of two different Athens players,
ended up in-bounding the ball under their bucket with 9 seconds
remaining.
The in-bounds play was executed perfectly and the
Spartans got a point-blank look at the rim, but the ball rolled off the
rim, and Lister rebounded it with 5.9 seconds remaining.
Lister made the second of two free throws to make it 42-39.
Before
Mid-Valley could get the ball up court to attempt a game-tying
3-pointer, Athens fouled Nemitz in the backcourt with 2.3 seconds
remaining.
Nemitz made the first, then had the second roll off
the rim. Babcock rebounded the miss, and fired a pass up the floor,
which Tucker chased down as the final buzzer sounded.
“We played
really good defense,” said Lister. “If you can hold a high school team
to 40 points in the state playoffs, you have a good shot to win the
game.
“It’s a team win — everyone contributed a little something to get us the W,” added Lister.
Babcock
led Athens with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, four blocked
shots, and four steals, while Lister had 10 points and five rebounds,
and Brown had nine points, four assists, and four steals.
Carling added five points, two assists, and two steals in the win, and Pritchard and Mitchell each grabbed four rebounds.
Tanner led Mid-Valley with 15 points, and Nemitz added 14.
Athens will face Archbishop Carroll in the Sweet 16.
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