MOKIN — Archbishop Carroll used an early 19-2 run to take control,
and end Athens’ season with an 83-38 win in the “Sweet 16” of the PIAA,
Class 4A boys basketball playoffs here Friday night.
“I’m so proud of this team,” said Athens coach Jim Lister. “There is nothing for them to hang their heads about.”
Senior
Troy Pritchard scored off a feed from junior Mason Lister to tie the
game at 3-3 less than a minute into the game, but Archbishop Carroll
scored the next 12 points in a 16-2 run to close the opening stanza with
a 19-5 lead.
Moses Hipps knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening moments of the second quarter to extend the Patriots’ lead to 22-5.
“We
came out and had some good looks, we just didn’t make the shots,” said
Lister. “Archbishop Carroll is an excellent basketball team. Take
nothing away from them, they made the shots.
“And Moses (Hipps) was excellent,” added Lister. “Even with two guys in his face, he was draining 3s from everywhere.”
Hipps,
who finished the game with 31 points and six 3-pointers, knocked down a
trio of 3-pointers and scored 12 points in the second quarter to fuel a
25-16 run that gave Archbishop Carrol a 44-21 led at the half.
The
Patriots continued the onslaught in the second half, outscoring Athens
2011 in the third quarter, and 13-6 in the final eight minutes.
“I’m
not taking anything away from (Archbishop Carroll) at all, but the
private Catholic schools and the charter schools in Pennsylvania are
just at a different level,” said Lister.
“I think we got to see that tonight,” he added.
Brown
led Athens with 15 points, three assists, and one blocked shot, while
senior J.J. Babcock had eight points, six rebounds, four blocked shots,
and three steals, and Pritchard had six points and two rebounds.
Junior
Chris Mitchell added four points and a team-high eight rebounds, while
senior Nalen Carling chipped in with three points, and Lister had four
boards and two assists.
The Wildcats graduate five seniors in Babcock, Carling, Carling, Pritchard and Ryan Thompson.
“I’ve
been with these kids for 10 years,” said Lister. “They’ve shown the way
on what you need to do to be successful in the game of basketball.
“They’ve
been playing since a very young age. They played in leagues, they
played AAUs, and they played in summer league,” he noted.
“They were always working on their game, and they played together. They were always a team, it was never a bunch of individuals.
“I’m
so proud of them, and so happy for them. They are a great bunch of
kids, and I have no doubt they will be extremely successful in life,” he
added. “I could not be happier about how their final season went.”
Lister knows his seniors will be tough to replace, but he believes he has plenty of talent returning.
“I
told the underclassmen after the game … I hope they learned from our
seniors, and what it takes to be successful because they have some
pretty big shoes to fill.
“Mason (Lister) is our only starter
returning, but Chris Mitchell improved tremendously,” said Lister. “I
think he’ll be pretty dominant underneath for us next year.
“Lucas
Kraft got some experience and will be a senior next year, and we have
some really good under classmen,” noted Lister. “Korey Miller will be
able to handle the ball, and Xavier Watson and Kolsen Keathley will play
huge parts in our program starting next year.
“There’s no reason
we can’t make a pretty good run next year. I think we’ll have all the
tools — we’ll have kids who can score, we’ll have size, and we’ll have
guards.
“We’ll put the time and work in to see that they’re ready come November,” he added.
Athens wraps up the 2021-22 campaign with a 21-8 reco
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.
MANSFIELD — All season long, Athens feasted on lay-ups as a key cog of
its offense, and that continued against Lewisburg. The difference
against the Green Dragons was that those lay-ups didn’t go down, with
the Wildcats falling 71-58 in District 4, Class AAAA boys’ basketball
championship game Saturday.
“Tonight wasn’t our night,” Athens
coach Jim Lister said. “So many bunnies and hippies that we normally
make, we didn’t make tonight. We make those shots, we probably win the
game. It just wasn’t our day.”
The Wildcats missed six lay-ups in
the first quarter, but found themselves down just 13-8. They would tie
it up at 22-all in the second quarter, but a 6-0 run would put the Green
Dragons up, and they would carry that momentum to a 33-26 lead at the
half.
The Green Dragons pushed their advantage to 48-34 in the
third quarter, but Athens would chip away, cutting it a 4-point game
with just under three minutes to play. It never got closer than that,
though, and Lewisburg used lay-ups and free throws to pull away.
“They
didn’t quit, they fought right to the end,” said Lister. “They cut it
to three points with three minutes to go in the game. It just shows you
the heart these kids have. I’m super proud of them, I really am.”
Tucker
Brown led the way with 23 points, including a 14-for-16 effort from the
free throw line. He also had four boards, and two assists.
At one point, he scored 13 straight points for Athens in the late third and early fourth to get them back in the game.
“He
just doesn’t ever stop,” said Lister. “We love the kid to death. I’m
going to mis him, he’s just a phenomenal kid, and a tremendous point
guard, and he’s going to be a tough one to replace next year.”
JJ
Babcock added 15 points, six rebounds, and two blocks, with Mason
Lister netting seven points to go with five boards, three assists, and
three steals.
Nalen Carling scored six, with six boards, and two
steals, Kolsen Keathley finished with four points and three rebounds,
Xavier Watson notched two points, and Chris Mitchell rounded things out
with one point. Troy Pritchard added two boards for the Wildcats.
Lewisburg’s
Jake Hernandez was strong inside with 26 points, while Joey Martin
added 15 and Cam Michaels finished with 13. Michaels, the point guard,
was a spark plug for the team all game long.
Jack Blough was also in double-figures with 11, while Forrest Zelechoski finished with four, and Henry Harrison added two.
It was a foul-plagued game, with Lewisburg going 20-for-23 from the line, while Athens was 23-for-36.
A Lister lay-up gave Athens a 2-0 lead less than a minute into the game.
After
some back-and-forth, Hernandez used an old-fashion 3-point play to put
the Dragons up 3-2. Babcock would knot things up with a free throw with
4:56 left in the quarter.
Lewisburg then went on n 8-0 run, behind four points from Hernandez, to take an 11-3 lead with 3:19 left to play in the first.
Mitchell
would get a free throw, followed by a Keathley bucket to cut it to
11-6. Hernandez would follow that with a lay-up, but Babcock had the
final say with two freebies to make it 13-8 at the first horn.
It
was back-and-forth early in the second as Babcock would cut it to
14-10, but a pair of Michaels free throws pushed the lead back to six.
Brown
would get a pair of free throws for Athens, but Hernandez followed with
a lay-up. Lister would cut it to 18-15 with just under six minutes left
in the second quarter with an old-fashion three-point play, but two
more freebies for Lewisburg put them back up five.
Athens would
strike back with a 4-0 spurt, as Lister found Babcock for a bucket,
followed by Watson getting a putback to cut it to 20-19.
Michaels
would end the spurt with a lay-up, but a Brown 3-ball off a Babcock
cross-court pass tied it up at 22-all with 3:20 left in the half.
Lewisburg,
though, would follow with another 6-0 run — all on free throws.
Hernandez was fouled, followed by a technical foul called on Athens,
giving him two more freebies. He made all four, they got the ball back,
and he got fouled again, making those two to put Lewisburg up 28-22 with
2:42 left in the half.
Babcock would get a lay-up, but Michaels nailed a step back 3-ball to push Lewisburg’s advantage to 31-24.
The two teams would trade points down the stretch to make it 33-26 Green Dragons at the half.
Athens
went on a 4-2 spurt to start the third quarter, with buckets from Brown
and Babcock, cutting it to 35-30. Lewisburg would respond with a 7-0
run to put them up 42-30 near the midway point of the quarter.
Brown would end the spurt with a lay-up, the beginning of 13 straight points for the Wildcats.
Martin
would hit a 3-ball, but Brown came back with two freebies. Martin would
get another 3-pointer to push their lead to 14 points, but Brown
responded with a lay-up.
The Wildcats then went to the line three times after that, but went 0-for-5.
However, Brown went to the line twice in the final 12 seconds, going 3-for-4 to make it 49-39 going into the final frame.
Lewisburg’s
Blough would get back-to-back lay-ups early in the fourth to extend the
lead to 53-39, but four straight free throws from Brown cut it to 10
points again.
Blough continued the hot hand, getting a putback, but two lay-ups from the Wildcats saw them cut it to 55-47.
A
Martin lay-up with 4:20 left made it a 10-point game halfway through
the fourth. After the two teams traded a free throw, Athens went on a
6-0 run — powered by four points from Babcock — to cut it to 58-54 with
2:51 to play.
Hernandez would end that stretch with a pair of
free throws, followed by Michaels getting a steal and lay-up to make it
64-52 with 1:40 left.
At the other end in one possession, Athens
had four good lay-up looks, but none of them went down. Michaels would
get the ball, and drive straight to the bucket, but Pritchard played the
best defense of the game, going straight at him to force an errant
shot.
The Wildcats went down, with Lister finding Keathley for a basket to make it 64-58 with 1:10 left.
That’s the last time Athens would score, though, as Lewisburg finished the game on a 7-0 run to secure the win.
Despite coming up short, Lister was glad to see his team get Athens back into a district final.
“I’m just ecstatic for all of them,” he said. “They put the work in, the time in, and came up a little short tonight.”
Athens will now travel to the District 2 runners-up on Tuesday.
“We’ve
got to give them the weekend off, and just kind of swallow this one
hard,” said Lister. “We’ll go back at it hard on Monday.”
WILLIAMSPORT — Senior Tucker Brown buried two free throws with 16
seconds remaining to lift Athens to a 41-40 win over Shamokin, and into
the District 4, Class 4A championship game.
“I’m very happy with the win tonight,” said Athens coach Jim Lister. “The kids dug deep and found a way to win.
“I’m
so proud of them,” noted Lister. “When you go down to Williamsport,
it’s a different level of basketball. It’s a lot more physical, they let
you play a lot more.
“Our guys handled the adversity, they never
quit, they followed the game plan, and we pulled it off,” he added.
“I’m thrilled for the kids, and I’m thrilled for the program.”
The
Wildcats finished the third quarter with a 6-0 spurt — on a pair of
buckets by senior Nalen Carling, sandwiched around a short jumper by
senior J.J. Babcock — to take a 31-25 lead into the final eight minutes.
Babcock
scored again, off a feed from junior Mason Lister, to give the Wildcats
their biggest lead of the game, at 33-25, with 7:35 remaining in the
contest.
The Indians closed gap to 35-30, but another bucket by
Carling, this one off an assist from Babcock, made it 37-30 with 4:35
left in the game.
Shamokin scored the next eight points to take a
38-37 lead with 1:48 remaining, but a steal by Babcock and a long pass
to junior Chris Mitchell for an uncontested lay-up with 44 seconds left
gave Athens a 39-38 lead.
"How about that pass to Chris Mitchell?,” said Lister. “Seriously, a half-court bullet right there for a
lay-up. That's part of being 6-6, being able to see the floor and finding his wide-open teammate."
Just
eight seconds later, Shamokin made a pair of free throws to regain the
lead, at 40-39, setting the stage for Brown’s game-winners.
“It was a big-time moment for a senior,” said Lister.
“We
practice foul shooting a lot in practice, and Tucker kind of goes off
to the side by himself,” he noted. “He’s constantly working on it, and
it paid off tonight.”
Shamokin knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on its first two possessions to take a quick 6-0 lead
“It
seems like every time we face a team, they come out in the first
quarter and they hit their first two or three 3-pointers,” laughed
Lister. “Shamokin made their first two, and then missed a bunch after
that.
“I think our 3-2 zone was frustrating for them. They were having a difficult time getting the ball inside.
“I’ve
watched a lot of Heartland (Athletic Conference) film, and it’s no
secret, they all play man-to-man defense,” noted Lister. “Every game I
watched, it’s man-to-man.
“We’re playing this zone, and they’re just not use to seeing it. With our length and athleticism, these guards struggle with it.
“We forced a lot of turnovers tonight, it’s been our type of basketball,” added Lister. “We’re going to stick with it.”
Shamokin
led 12-4 midway through the first quarter, but Lister scored
back-to-back buckets to close the gap to 12-8 at the end of the opening
eight minutes.
After a free throw by Shamokin to open the
second-quarter scoring, senior Troy Pritchard scored on a nice low-post
move to trigger a 7-0 spurt that Brown capped with a steal and
uncontested lay-up to give the Wildcats a 15-13 lead.
The teams battled evenly until Athens’ 6-0 spurt to end the third quarter.
Carling
led Athens with 12 points, five rebounds, and three steals, while
Babcock had nine points, three assists, and one blocked shot, and Brown
had eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and six steals.
Lister
added four points, four rebounds, four assists, and six steals in the
win, while Pritchard had six points and four rebounds, and Mitchell
chipped in with five rebounds and one blocked shot.
The Wildcats, now 20-6, are just one win away from a District 4 title.
“That’s one banner in our gym we just don’t have for Athens boys basketball,” said Lister.
“We
use the phrase, we have to be 1-0,” he noted. “We have to keep being
1-0. Now, we’re at the point where we can be 1-0 again, and win a
District title.
“The kids have bought in, and are playing some really good basketball,” Lister added.
Athens
will face the winner of Wednesday’s game between top-seeded Lewisburg
and fourth-seeded Mifflinburg on Saturday at a site and time to be
determined.
ATHENS — Athens allowed seven first-half
points, limited Milton to 15-percent shooting from the field in the
game, and forced 28 turnovers in a 57-23 rout here Friday night in the
quarterfinals of the District 4, Class AAAA boys basketball playoffs.
“Our
defense was definitely the story tonight,” said Athens coach Jim
Lister. “My kids were fantastic on defense tonight. There were active,
they had a lot of intensity, and their hands were busy.
“On film,
it’s no secret the Heartland (Conference) match up … they match up and
play man-to-man. Everything I watched on film was man-to-man.
“Playing
Wyalusing and Troy, I thought their guards were better than what we saw
tonight, so I thought our 3-2 (zone) would be nasty for (Milton), and
it was,” noted Lister.
“When they starting figuring things out, we went to a half-court press, and it was game over,” Lister added.
The
Wildcats scored the first eight points of the game, and led 10-1 after
the first eight minutes, with five different players putting their names
in the scoring column.
After a bucket by Milton to start the
second quarter closed the gap to 10-3, the Wildcats scored nine points
in a row in a run that featured four points by senior Tucker Brown, and a
3-pointer by junior Mason Lister.
Senior Nalen Carling’s puback on the offensive glass capped the run and made it 19-3 with 1:45 remaining in the first half.
The teams traded buckets to finish the half, and the Wildcats led 23-7 at the intermission.
Lister believes the 16-point halftime bulge should have been much bigger.
“If
there was one thing I was all over the kids about tonight is that we
were not finishing at the rim,” he said. “We missed a lot of bunnies in
the first half that we normally make.
“Obviously our defensive
was tremendous in the first half, but I thought we should have had
another 15 points on the scoreboard,” noted Lister. “We just missed a
lot of easy shots.
“We came out in the third quarter, and I think
we were rushing things a little bit … we were trying too hard to
score,” he added. “I took a time out just to settle them down, and we
were just fantastic after that.”
Milton scored the first five
points of the third quarter, but the Wildcats closed out the third
quarter with a 14-3 run to take a 39-15 lead into the final eight
minutes.
Senior Troy Pritchard started the run, and Lister scored six points in the stretch.
Athens continued to poor it on in the fourth quarter with an 18-8 run, field by six points from senior J.J. Babcock.
Lister took a minute after the game to pay homage to the Athens student body.
“Our
student body again was fantastic tonight,” he said. “They came out in
droves, and they were so loud and into the game the entire time. I’m
just thrilled to have them there.”
Lister led Athens with 15
points, four rebounds, and four steals, while Babcock had 12 points,
five boards, three assists, and two blocked shots, and Carling added
eight points and eight rebounds.
Brown had eight points, six
assists, four rebounds, and three steals in the win,, while Pritchard
had six points and six boards, and junior Chris Mitchell chipped in with
five points.
Athens, now 19-6, will face second-seeded Shamokin at a time and place to be determined.
——————
Athens honored senior J.J. Babcock for reaching the 1,000-point plateau and the 500-rebound marker.
“We
had eight alumni at the game from Athens (and SRU) who were 1,000-point
scorers to recognize them, and celebrate J.J.’s accomplishments,” said
Lister. “I think it was a wonderful thing for J.J. (Babcock), I’m
thrilled for him.
SAYRE — In a game no fan wanted to end, Athens and Troy needed extra
time to decide who was going to walk out with the NTL Showdown Trophy.
And, in the end, the Wildcats got a Nalen Carling free throw with 49.9
seconds remaining to take a 1-point lead, and made it stick defensively
to beat the Trojans, 68-67, in boys’ basketball action Saturday.
“It feels awesome,” Athens coach Jim Lister remarked. “Honestly, it feels terrific.”
The
stars certainly showed up, as Wildcat JJ Babcock finished with 29
points, eight of them coming in overtime, while Troy’s Ty Barrett lit up
with 33, including seven 3-pointers.
“First, I want to say
congratulations to the Troy Trojans,” Lister said. “Coach Renzi has a
phenomenal program, and Ty Barrett is an unbelievable player. Mason
Imbt, he’s just s man-child in there, and they’re so good, but, you know
what, I think we’re a match-up challenge for them. Our length and our
athleticism makes it a little bit tough for them.”
The Wildcats
made their living in the paint, as they hit 31 2-point field goals, with
no threes, as they worked to get the ball inside. That was in sharp
contrast to Troy, who had as many threes (12) as two point field goals
(12).
“I always say we’re a complete team,” remarked Lister.
“I’ve got five or six guys out there all the time that can score, and
score a lot, and I think that helps.
“And, if I go back in time,
and I look at our AAU season, we battled them in AAU, but we were able
to beat them in AAU. We battled over summer league, and we were able to
beat them in summer league,” he noted. “We beat them at our place the
first time we played them, and tonight was a phenomenal game. They got
us last Saturday in Troy, and, I’m not taking anything away from them
whatsoever, nothing, but we had to play back-to-back games, and I just
didn’t think our legs were 100percent, and it showed a little bit.
“But
tonight, we got rest, and I think our intensity was there in the
beginning of the game, which was good,” added Lister. “And you need to
do that against a team as good as Troy.”
Twice the Wildcats got
out to decent leads, 8-2 in the first quarter, and 50-42 early in the
fourth, but both times the Trojans came back. The two teams would trade
leads down the stretch of the fourth, with Troy missing two game-winning
shots in regulation. The two teams traded leads through the first half
of the fourth quarter, until Athens got back-to-back buckets to go up
three points. A Troy 3-pointer tied, but Carling got to the line, made
the second of two freebies, and that was enough to carry it home.
Babcock had eight boards, seven assists, three blocks, and two steals to go with his 29 points.
“I
keep saying it, he’s a complete player,” said Lister. “We want him to
have the ball. He’s got to touch it, and, if he touches it, usually good
things happen.”
Carling had 15 points, five boards, three assists, and two steals.
Mason
Lister finished with eight points, four boards, five assists, and two
steals, and Tucker Brown added eight points, and two steals.
Troy
Pritchard had four points, two boards, and two steals, with Kolsen
Keathley getting two points and three rebounds, and Christ Mitchell
adding two points.
“When they went zone, we’re good at finding
mismatches,” said Babcock. “When I touch the ball up top, I just see
over everybody, and I see guys like Nails or Troy for easy buckets.”
After
Barrett, Imbt was the second-leading scorer for Troy with 13 points,
while Justice Chimics finished with nine. Lance Heasley and Ethan VanNoy
had six points each.
“What a comeback by the Troy Trojans,”
Lister remarked. “They made it a game, which you knew they would. An
unbelievable shooting night they had.”
The Wildcats jumped out to
an 8-2 lead thanks to three lay-ups and a jumper — Babcock had one of
each — but after a Troy time-out, Barrett hit a three ball to cut it to
8-5.
Carling responded with another lay-up, but Chimics answered
that with a 3-ball to make it 10-8. The two teams would trade buckets,
followed by a VanNoy 3-ball to give Troy their first lead, 13-12, but a
Brown jumper put Athens up 14-13 at the first horn.
The Wildcats
opened the second quarter with lay-ups from Carling and Babcock, but
Troy came back with two Imbt freebies, followed by a Heasley putback.
That’s
when Athens went on a 12-0 run, fueled by six points from Lister. They
showed off their quick passing as they assisted on three of the buckets,
including a Babcock-to-Lister-to-Brown that got their fans going.
A
Barrett lay-up off a Chimics assist stopped the run. Carling answered
with a short jumper, but Troy finished the half on a 4-0 spurt to cut it
to 32-23 at the half.
Babcock opened the third with a put-back, but Barrett got Troy rolling with back to back 3-balls to make it 34-29.
A
4-0 Athens spurt pushed it to 38-29, but Troy rallied again, as Imbt
thad a putback, followed by another Barrett 3-pointer to make it 38-34.
Carling
would score a lay-up at the other end, but the Trojans would cut it to
40-37 behind a 3-for-4 effort from the foul line.
After another
Carling jumper, the two teams traded lay-ups, and Chimics hit another
3-pointer to close the gap to 44-42. Mitchell would get the final bucket
of the quarter to give the Wildcats a 46-42 lead with one quarter
left.
Athens would start the fourth with a 4-0 spurt, but an Imbt putback cut it to 50-44.
Then,
Barrett put on one of the best shooting displays many people will see
in a high school game. He would make three 3-pointers in a row, the
second from nearly 25 feet, and the third off balance in transition, to
put his team up 53-50 with 5:55 left in the game.
Babcock would end the run with a lay-up, but a Heasley bucket off a VanNoy pass helped Troy keep a 3-point lead.
Athens
would chip away, though, as Babcock would hit two free throws and a
lay-up to give them a 56-55 advantage with 3:50 left in the game.
Imbt
would put Troy back up 57-56 off a putback, but Babcock came back with a
runner at the other end with just under three minute to go.
The two teams would trade misses, followed by another Imbt putback to give the Trojans a 59-58 lead with 1:30 left to play.
Babcock would get fouled with just over a minute, making 1 of 2, to tie things up at 59-all.
At
the other end, Troy would run some clock, then shoot with under 30
seconds to go. It missed, but Chimics hauled in the rebound.
Athens
had some fouls to give, so, after a Trojan timeout, they began to foul,
but one was by Mason Lister, which would knock him out of the game.
Troy’s shot at the buzzer was no good, and the game went to overtime.
In
the extra period, Babcock would get in the lane for a runner, but
VanNoy came back with a 3-pointer. Babcock answered with a jump hook,
with Barrett making two freebies at the other end.
Then came the
big play of the extra period, as Babcock drove the lane. Imbt stood in
to take a charge, there was contact, and the call came out a block, with
the Wildcat senior making the lay-up.
He missed the free throw, but put Athens up 65-64 with 2:32 left to play.
Troy would miss at the 2:04 mark, Athens would miss with 1:57 left to play, with Troy then getting another miss after that.
Athens made good on their next possession, as Babcock had a putback with 1:20 left to go up three points.
“We
were short-handed a little bit, but, you know, I just had to put it in
my head that I had to take over the game,” said Babcock.
However, Troy didn’t go away, as Chimics hit his third 3-pointer of the game to knot things up at 67-all with 1:07 to play.
At
the other end, the Athens shot was off, but Carling got the offensive
board and was fouled. He missed the first, but made the second, putting
the Wildcats up 68-67 with 49.9 seconds to play.
The Trojans
would run some clock, then call a timeout with 21 seconds to play to set
something up. Athens would get a near steal with 3.5 seconds to play,
but the ball rolled out-of-bounds.
In the final seconds, Barrett was able to get a decent look, but the shot was just short.
“I’m so thrilled with the kids, and so happy for them,” said Lister. “I’m so happy for our program.”
Athens will now try to bottle this energy as they host a district game next week.
“It makes us feel like we can beat anybody,” said Babcock. “So we’re going to ride this momentum for sure.”
WYALUSING — The Wyalusing Rams came out firing in the NTL Showdown on
Thursday night, but Athens had the answer every time in a 74-69 win.
Wyalusing
hit 11 threes in the game, but the Wildcats had four players in double
figures, and were led by a 29-point, 10 assist effort from J.J. Babcock
in the win.
“First, congratulations to Wyalusing for one of the
best shooting performances I have seen in a long time,” Athens coach Jim
Lister said. “I am very proud of our kids. They stuck to the plan
tonight and got us a big win. Wyalusing is not an easy place to play.”
Wyalusing
hit five first-quarter threes, with Isaiah Way hitting three of them,
on his way to 11 first-quarter points, and Grady Cobb knocking down two
in the quarter.
But, Athens kept the game tied at 19 after one as
Nalen Carling had seven points, including a three, and Babcock had six
points. Tucker Brown finished with four in the quarter and Mason Lister
scored a basket in the quarter.
In the second quarter Babcock
started to take over with eight points, and Lister drained two from
distance as the Wildcats outscored the Rams 20-12 in the quarter to take
an eight-point lead into the half.
“J.J. Babcock was outstanding
tonight, once again,” Lister said. “I keep saying he has become the
complete player and he proved it again tonight.”
Wyalusing went
inside in the third as Blake Morningstar scored 13 points in the quarter
and the Rams outscored the Wildcats 22-18 in the third to cut the
deficit to 57-53 heading into the fourth.
Babcock led the Wildcats in the third quarter with nine points, including a three.
In the fourth the Wildcats sealed the win by going 11-for-15 from the free throw line.
“The
entire team all hit big foul shots at the end of the game to keep us
ahead,” Lister said. “I am very proud of all of them. Freshmen Kolsen
Keathley stepped up again on the defensive end in a big way and Mason
Lister took a big time charge at the end of the game to secure the win.”
Babcock was 11-for-18 from the field in the win and he was 7-for-10 from the free throw line to help seal the win.
Along with his 29 points and 10 assists, Babcock added three steals, a blocked shot and six rebounds.
Carling
finished with 16 points for the Wildcats and Brown had 13 points with
four assists. Brown was 5-for-8 from the field in the game.
Lister had 12 points and four rebounds, with three assists and a steal.
Troy Pritchard and Keathley each finished with two points in the game.
Athens shot 52% from the field in the game and they hit 16-of-23 from the free throw line in the win.
Cobb
led Wyalusing with 22 points and four assists and Morningstar had a
double-double with 20 points, 18 in the second half, and 12 steals,
along with seven rebounds.
Nolan Oswald and Abram Bennett had two points each for the Rams.
Athens
will face Troy for a third time this year in the NTL Showdown Final.
Troy won the other semifinal 78-54. The game is at 4 p.m. Saturday at
Sayre.
“Another terrific team win by the Athens Wildcats,” Lister
said. “We are looking forward to another war with the awesome Troy
Trojans on Saturday afternoon, especially with a days rest this time.”
TIOGA JUNCTION — Athens took command early, and cruised to a 67-42 win
over Williamson here Wednesday night to clinch a berth in the NTL Boys
Basketball Showdown.
The Wildcats, who finish the regular season
at 16-6, travel to Wyalusing for a Showdown semi-final match-up
Thursday, while Troy hosts Canton in the other semi-final game.
The
game was also highlighted by another career milestone for Athens senior
J.J. Babcock. After scoring his 1,000th point last week, Babcock hauled
down his 500th career rebound Wednesday night.
Senior Troy
Pritchard, and junior Mason Lister scored buckets in the opening minutes
to give Athens a 4-0 lead, but the Warriors rallied to tie the game at
6-6.
Babcock knocked down a short jumper to make it 8-6 and the Wildcats never relinquished the lead.
Senior Nalen Carling turned a steal into a lay-up, then fed Babcock for a bucket to make it 12-6.
Babcock
scored in transition to make it 15-8, then Lister drained a 3-pointer
to extend the lead to 18-8 with 2 1/2 remaining in the first quarter.
Williamson
trimmed the deficit to 18-10, but Athens answered with 10 straight
points, including four by Babcock and four by senior Tucker Brown, to
make it 28-10 with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Williamson
drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and outscored Athens, 11-10 , in the
second quarter to close the gap to 38-24 at the half.
Any
thoughts of a Williamson comeback were vanquished quickly as Athens
started the second half with a 9-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Lister,
to make it 47-24.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 63-35 in
the closing seconds of the third quarter on a 3-pointer by sophomore
Korey Miller, then took their biggest lead of the game, at 65-35, in the
opening minute of the final stanza on a putback by freshman Kolsen
Keathley.
Williamson closed the game with a 7-2 spurt.
Babcock
led Athens with 19 points and five rebounds, while Brown scored nine
points, and Carling had eight points, eight rebounds, and four steals.
Junior
Chris Mitchell had eight points and seven boards for the Wildcats,
while Lister added seven points, four rebounds, and six assists, Miller
chipped in with six points on a pair of 3-pointers and three rebounds,
Pritchard pulled down five rebounds, senior Ryan Thompson had four
boards and two steals, and Keathley grabbed three boards and recorded
two steals.
TIOGA JUNCTION — Athens displayed offensive firepower in the first
quarter, and shutdown defense in the middle two en route to a
season-ending 52-19 win over Williamson here Wednesday evening in NTL
Large School junior varsity boys basketball action.
Korey Miller
pumped in eight points and Troy Rosenbloom added six points in the first
quarter, while Davin Spencer and Connor Mosher each canned 3-pointers,
and Jase Babcock converted an old-fashioned three-point play to fuel a
27-8 blitz in the opening seven minutes.
Spencer scored six
points in the second quarter, and Noah Hobday and Jase Babcock each
scored five to power a 16-0 second-quarter run that pushed the lead to
43-8 at the half.
The Wildcats held the Warriors scoreless again
in the third quarter, and Matt Aquino’s 3-pointer were the only tally of
the stanza as the lead free to 46-8 entering the final seven minutes.
Spencer
led Athens with nine points, three rebounds, and three steals, while
Miller had eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and four steals,
and Babcock had eight points, three boards, and one blocked shot.
Rosenbloom
added six points and two assists in the win, while Mosher scored five
points and dished out three assists, Hobday scored five points, and
Peter Jones contributed three rebounds and four steals.
All 11 Wildcats that played put their name in the scoring column in the win.
Under coach Cody White, Athens wraps up the season with a 19-3 record.
TOWANDA - Athens’ J,J, Babcock inched closer to his 500th rebound in a
79-45 win over Towanda during NTL Boys’ basketball action Monday.
He
needs just four boards Wednesday against Williamson to reach 500, which
would be his second milestone in less than a week. He scored his
1,000th point in a win over Wellsboro Friday.
“That’s actually
very nice,” Babcock said about getting two milestones his senior year.
“It’s something I’ve been working toward for a long time.”
The
Wildcats led by just five points at the half, but rattled off a 45-16
run in the second half to get the win, playing their fourth game in six
days.
“We knew Towanda was going to bring it,” said Babcock.
“Coach (Landon) Henry is a really good coach. We just had to fight
through the adversity, and come out on top.”
Mason Lister led
Athens with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, five steals, and two
blocked shots, while Nalen Carling had 13 points to go with six boards
and one blocked shot, and Babcock had a double-double with 10 points and
10 assists, to go with six steals and two blocked shots.
Tucker
Brown had nine points and three boards, while Chris Mitchell added seven
points and four rebounds, and Korey Miller, Kolsen Keathley, and Troy
Prtichard had six points each. Pritchard chipped in with four boards,
and three steals
Dante Ottaviani and Teagan Irish had 11 points
each to lead the Knights, while Justin Schoonover added nine, and Mason
Hartmann chipped in with eight.
Towanda led 8-6 early but a 5-0 run from Athens saw them take an 11-8 lead.
Irish would respond with a lay-up, but a Carling jumper, followed by a Keathley putback pushed Athens’ advantage to 15-10.
An Ottaviani 3-ball cut it to 15-13, but another Carling bucket pushed it back to a 4-point lead for the Wildcats.
However,
Towanda ended the quarter on a 6-2 run, thanks to threes from Wheaton
and Irish, to knot things up at 19-19 at the quarter break.
Athens
came out strong in the second, going on a 6-0 run as they turned three
straight steals into three straight lay-ups — two by Babcock.
Towanda
would get a lay-up from Hartmann, followed by a 3-ball from Ottaviani,
to cut it to 25-24, but a Lister 3-pointer made it 28-24, and Babcock
would score off a Carling assist to make it 30-24.
Ottaviani would answer with a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 30-27.
Carling, though, would go on a 4-2 spurt for Athens, to give them a 34-29 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats blitzed Towanda with a 10-0 burst, led by six points from Lister, to take a 44-29 lead.
Hartmann
would get a lay-up to stop the bleeding, but it started over again, as
Athens went on an 8-2 run, as four different players scored, to make it
52-33.
The Knights would cut it to 53-37, but Athens would extend it to 57-37 on a Lister lay-up, followed by a Babcock dunk.
Towanda ended the quarter on a 3-0 spurt to make it 57-40.
However, Athens pretty much ended it with a 5-1 run to start the fourth, to take a 62-41 lead.
“We definitely amped up the intensity,” said Babcock. “We knew we had to bring it.”
Athens
will need to beat Williamson on Wednesday to advance to the NTL
Showdown, where they would travel to Wyalusing, a match-up they look
forward to, as the Rams beat them earlier this season.
If they
beat Wyalusing, they could likely face Troy again in the NTL Showdown
finale, so they still have plenty play for, including some revenge.
“We can’t wait to play them again,” said Babcock. “Those are the two great games for sure.”
ATHENS — Athens earned three wins in four nights over NTL Large School
Divisional opponents, including a victory over Troy to avenge a loss
earlier this season, to improve to 18-3 on the season.
Athens 41, Towanda 28
At Towanda, Athens gradually pulled away for a 41-28 win over Towanda Monday night.
Kolsen
Keathley scored four points in the first quarter to help the junior
Wildcats to an 11-7 lead after the first seven minutes.
Troy
Rosenbloom scored six points in the second quarter, and Keathley added
an old-fashioned three-point play in an 11-7 run that pushed the Athens
lead to 19-14 at the half.
Jase Babcock and Korey Miller scored
four points apiece in the third quarter as Athens outscored Towanda,
12-8, to take a 31-22 lead into the final seven minutes.
Xavier Watson and Keathley scored four points apiece in the fourth quarter as Athens added to its lead with a 10-6 spurt.
Keathley
led Athens with 11 points and six rebounds, while Rosenbloom had eight
points, two assists, and two steals, and Watson had eight points, five
boards, two steals, and one blocked shot.
Miller had four points,
seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the win, while Jack
Cheresnowsky had four points, three rebounds, and one blocked shot, Jase
Babcock chipped in with four points, Davin Spencer had three rebounds
and two steals, and Peter Jones grabbed three boards.
Athens 61, Troy 51
At Troy, Athens rallied from seven points down at the half to pull out a 61-51 win over Troy at the Commons Building Saturday.
Korey
Miller buried a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, while Xavier
Watson also had six points, and Troy Rosenbloom added four points to
help Athens to an 18-6 lead after the first seven minutes.
Troy
outscored Athens, 18-9 in the second quarter to take a 34-27 lead into
the half, but the Wildcats answered with a strong third quarter.
Kolsen
Keathley scored nine points to fuel a 13-2 third-quarter blitz that
gave Athens a 40-36 lead heading into the final seven minutes.
Watson
scored eight points in the fourth quarter, and Miller added six points,
including four free throws, as Athens made 7 of 10 free throws down the
stretch to preserve the win in a 21-15 fourth-quarter run.
Watson
scored 17 points and Miller had 16 points, three rebounds, six assists,
and four steals to lead Athens, while Keathley had 13 points, seven
rebounds and four steals.
Rosenbloom had six points and two
assists in the win, while Jase Babcock had four points and two assists,
Jack Cheresnowsky grabbed three rebounds, and Conner Mosher dished out
three assists.
Athens 40, Wellsboro 23
At Athens, the
junior Wildcats used a 12-2 second quarter blitz to build an 11-point
halftime lead on its way to a 40-23 win over Wellsboro Friday.
Matt
Aquilio buried a 3-pointer in the first quarter, and three of his
teammates put their name in the scoring column to help Athens to a 9-8
lead after the first seven minutes.
Korey Miller canned a
3-pointer, and Kolsen Keathley converted an old-fashioned three-point
play as Athens extended its lead to 21-10 at the half.
Keathley
scored six points in the third quarter, and Xavier Watson finished off a
three-point play as Athens used a 15-11 advantage to take a 36-21 lead
into the final seven minutes.
Keathley led Athens with 11 points,
12 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocked shots,
while Watson scored seven points, and Miller had five points, three
rebounds, three assists, seven steals, and one blocked shot.
Aquilio
scored five points for the Wildcats, while Connor Mosher had four
points, four boards, and one blocked shot, Jack Cheresnowsky had four
points and three rebounds, and Troy Rosenbloom added three rebounds.
TROY — Athens came within a rimmed out lay-up of possibly taking hold of
the NTL Large School title chase, but ultimately ran out of gas as it
fell to Troy, 70-64, in boys basketball action here Saturday at the
Commons Building.
The Wildcats, who trailed for most of the game,
rallied from 14 down in the third, to a 2-point deficit with a little
more than a minute to go when that shot rolled out. In the final 67
seconds, the Trojans used the free throw line to out score Athens, 6-1,
to preserve the win, and clinch their second straight division
championship.
“First, I want to say I’m going to give Coach Renzi
and Troy all the credit in the world,” said Athens coach Jim Lister.
“They really played hard tonight, they won the game.
“I’m very
proud of my kids. This was a hell of a gauntlet we had to go through
here, (NP-Mansfield) Wednesday night, Wellsboro last night) and to come
here and play Troy tonight, we were asking a lot of our kids, and they
never quit,” noted Lister. “They came back, and they showed me a lot of
heart tonight, and I’m extremely proud of them.”
The Wildcats
rolled past NP-Mansfield mid-week, but had to hold off Wellsboro on
Friday before facing the league leading Trojans.
“I thought our
legs were a little tired in the first half,” said Lister. “I think
that’s why they got a good lead on us. But, just my kids, man, they got a
ton of heart, they fought back.”
Babcock certainly put it all
out on the court as he had one of the best games of his career with 30
points, eight boards, four assists, four steals, and three blocked
shots. In the first half, he helped carry the load with nine points in
the opening quarter to keep Troy from getting too far out in front, then
scored 13 in the final frame during Athens’ rally.
“I’m thrilled
with JJ, and his effort tonight,” Lister remarked. “I mean, he just
wanted to take over the game, he wanted to win.”
Mason Lister added 15 points, and five boards, as he was money with his mix of baseline jumpers and runners.
Nalen
Carling scrapped for 10 points, and six rebounds, while Tucker Brown
had four points, and four assists, Troy Pritchard finished with three
points, and Kolsen Keathley added two points, four boards, and some
tough defense on Troy’s Ty Barrett.
“I’m going to give a big
shout out to my freshman Kolsen Keathley,” said Lister. “He came in in
that quarter and he busted his tail, and he worked hard, and he got us
back in that game.”
Mason Imbt led Troy with 24 points, while
Barrett finished with 23. Zeb Oldroyd netted eight, Justice Chimics
scored seven, Jackson Taylor and Ethan VanNoy had three points apiece,
while Colin Loveland rounded things out with two.
Barrett came
out of the gates on fire, hitting back-to-back 3-balls in Troy’s first
two possessions to put the Trojans up 6-0. Their lead would get to 8-0
on an Imbt lay-up from a VanNoy pass, but a Lister jumper stopped that
run.
Imbt would make it 10-2 with another lay-up at the 4:17 mark
of the first quarter, but the Wildcats came back with jumpers from
Babcock and Lister.
Imbt’s third bucket of the game made it 12-6,
but after that the Wildcats went on a 9-2 run to take a 15-14 lead.
Babcock scored seven of the night points, while Lister had a lay-up.
However, Barrett’s third 3-pointer of the quarter with 16 seconds on the clock would put the Trojans back up 17-15.
Troy
came out strong in the second, with getting back to back lay-ups from
Barrett and Imbt to take a 21-15 lead in the first minute.
Another Babcock ‘And-1’ cut it to 21-18, followed by the two teams trading bucket to make it 23-20 at the 4:49 mark.
The
back-and-forth continued for the next three minutes, as both teams had
five points apiece, until Lister hit a baseline jumper at the minute
mark to cut it to 28-27.
Oldroyd would answer with a 3-ball,
followed by a Barrett dump off to Imbt down low that put the Trojans
back up 33-27 with 21 seconds left to play.
Pritchard would get a lay-up with a 6.6 seconds for a 33-29 halftime score.
Troy came out of the half like a shot, beginning with buckets from Imbt and Barrett to take a 37-29 lead.
A Carling jumper cut it to 37-31, but Oldroyd answered with a 3-ball to go up 40-31.
Babcock
would get another old fashioned 3-point play, but the Trojans followed
with a 6-0 run — Barrett had a lay-up, Oldroyd finished a put back, and
Chimics scored on a transition lay-up – to build their biggest lead yet,
46-34.
A Babcock steal and lay-up at the 2:52 mark made it a
10-point game, but two more Trojans baskets — one from Chimics, the
other from Imbt, and both off Barrett assists — gave the Trojans a 50-36
advantage with 2:00 left in the third.
Athens answered with a 4-0 spurt as Babcock found Lister for a lay-up, and Brown had a steal and bucket.
Then, with 1:18 left on the clock, Barrett found Imbt for a lay-up, plus the foul, to make it 53-40.
Babcock
would continue to make plays for his team, though, as he found Brown
for a bucket, then had another steal and lay-up, to cut it to 53-44.
The
final basket of the quarter belonged to Barrett, though, as he hit a
runner to make it a 55-44 Trojan lead going into the final frame.
“You
know, when we were up going into the fourth, I said to the guys, this
ain’t over,” said Troy coach Steve Renzi. “Athens was a champion two
years ago, they know. They know what they got to do to comeback, and
they did.”
It began on the defensive end for the Wildcats, as
they held Troy scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the fourth.
That allowed them to chip away, going on an 9-0 run, with seven of them
from Babcock, to cut it to 55-53.
A pair of Imbt free throws extended the lead back to four points, but a Babcock driving lay-up made it a 2-point game again.
Barrett answered with a driving lay-up of his own with 3:57 on the clock for a 59-55 lead.
Athens
would get a turnover on their next possession, with Chimics getting
fouled and going to the line for a 1-and-1. He made the first, but
missed the second, giving the Trojans a little more breathing room at
60-55 with 3:15 left.
The Wildcats would have another turnover, but Troy missed at the other end.
It was Keathley cutting it to 60-57 for the Wildcats with a lay-up at the 2:41 mark.
Troy, though, would get a big 3-ball from VanNoy — nothing but net — off an Imbt assist to push their lead to 63-57.
Lister,
though, was able to erase that with a lay-up plus the foul, making the
freebie for a 63-60 score with just over two minute to play.
Taylor would get fouled at the other end, making both, to once again push the lead to four points.
The
two teams would then trade misses, followed by Babcock getting his
seventh And-1 of the game, making the free throw to cut it to 65-63 with
1:46 left.
After getting the ball back, Athens had a good look at a lay-up, but that’s when it rolled out.
Barrett ended up with the ball, and at the free throw line, making both, to push it to 67-63 with 1:07 left to play.
Babcock would get to the free throw line at the other, making 1-of-2, to cut it to 67-64 with 43.5 left to play.
Those
would be the final points Athens would score, though, as their final
three possessions ended with two turnovers, and a miss.
Troy would go 3 of 6 down the stretch — Imbt himself was 2-for-4 — to secure the win.
“We
were a lay-up away from tying this game up with a minute left,” Lister
said. “It was a fantastic basketball game in front of a packed house.
It’s the way it’s supposed to be. We just came up on the short end of
it.”
The Wildcats have two league games left, beginning with a
trip to Towanda on Monday, and, if they win out, will be in the NTL
Showdown where they could meet Troy for the third time this season.
“We have a lot of basketball left,” Lister remarked. “And we will be back. I promise you that.”
ATHENS — Senior Nalen Carling fueled a strong first half, and his
classmate J.J. Babcock netted his 1,000th career point in Athens’ 48-40
win over Wellsboro here Friday night in NTL Large School Division boys
basketball action.
However, Athens coach Jim Lister said it was his team’s defense, employing 1-3-1 half-court pressure, that was the difference.
“Defensively,
I thought we played awesome in the first half,” he said. “We only gave
up 15 points to a very good Wellsboro team … if we continue to play
defense like that, we should be OK.
“I went back over the last 48
hours and I watched our game (at Wellsboro) three times,” noted Lister.
“I realized (Wellsboro’s) guards are very good shooters, but I thought
we could put some more pressure on them, which we did not do the first
game, and make it a little more difficult for them.
“Our length and athleticism created a lot of problems for them,” added Lister. “I don’t think they saw that coming.”
The
6-3 Carling, matched up against a 5-10 defender, scored 10 points in
the first quarter, including a pair of feee throws that gave Athens the
lead for good at 6-4.
“We didn’t have Nalen (Carling) at Wellsboro, he was very ill and did not make the trip,” said Lister.
“Watching
film and looking at the match-ups … I thought we’d have a size
advantage with Nalen,” added Lister. “I thought Nalen would be the
x-factor, and dominate in the paint, and that’s exactly what he did.”
After
a 3-pointer by Wellsboro’s Connor Adams closed the gap to 8-7, Lister
drained a long 3-pointer from the right wing to trigger a 13-1 run that
put the Wildcats ahead 21-8 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the first
half.
Carling and Lister scored buckets to give the Wildcats
their biggest lead of the first half, at 27-13, with 40 seconds
remaining in the half, but Liam Manning scored on a putback at the
buzzer to make it 27-15.
Peyton McClure, who scored a game-high
21 points on seven 3-pointers in the first Athens-Wellsboro game, canned
his second 3-pointer of the game to close the gap to 29-20 with 5:29
remaining in the third quarter. McClure finished the game with two
3-pointers and eight points.
“We had Mason (Lister) on (Peyton
McClure) in the second half, and his job was to make sure he didn’t hurt
us,” said Lister. “We did a good job on him.”
Adams knocked down
a jumper in the lane to make it 29-22 with 5:16 remaining, but senior
Troy Pritchard and Babcock scored in the low blocks to make it 33-22
with 3:08 remaining.
The teams traded buckets, with Liam Manning
scoring in the post with 50 seconds left to close the gap to 35-26
heading into the final eight minutes.
Carling scored on a nice
drive down the lane with 6:25 remaining, but Adams drained a 3-pointer
just 10 seconds later to make it 37-29.
Drew Manning scored on
the offensive boards midway through the final stanza to make it 39-33.
After a defensive stop, the Hornets had a chance to cut deeper into the
Athens lead, but Babcock came up with a steal and coast-to-coast drive
for an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 42-33 with 3:22
remaining.
Babcock made 2 of 5 free-throw attempts over the next two minutes, but the Wildcats kept Wellsboro off the board.
With
Athens up 44-33 with 1:15 remaining in the contest, Adams drained a
pair of 3-pointers in a 17-second span to close the gap to 44-39.
“That
was probably my mistake,” said Lister of Adams’ consecutive 3-pointers.
“I switched us into man-to-man, and I probably should have stayed with
the half-court press a little longer because (Wellsboro) was struggling
to get the ball up the court.
“We stayed in man, and we packed it too deep,” noted Lister. “We let (Adams) get to the top-of-the-key, and he hurt us.”
“We called timeout, and fixed that real fast,” added Lister. “Then, they had no choice, but to foul us.”
The
Wildcats, who made just 8 of 19 free throws in the game, made 3 of 6
free throws, including Babcock knocking down one from the charity stripe
with 20 seconds remaining in the game for his milestone point.
“We
didn’t shoot fouls shots very well tonight,” said Lister. “If there’s
one thing that bothered me tonight, it was our foul shooting. We can’t
do that (Saturday) night at Troy, we have to make those shots.
“We’ll spend some time on the foul line (Saturday) before we go to Troy, I guarantee you that,” Lister added.
Lister also lauded Babcock for his 1,000th point.
“He’s
turned into a complete player … for him, it wasn’t about the 1,000th,
it was about the win,” he said. “To get both tonight, I’m so happy for
him.
“I’ve been coaching J.J. since the third-grade, so I’ve watched him grow and develop over the years.
“Does
it help that he’s 6-foot-6? Yes,” said Lister. “But, it’s the other
parts of the game that make him the player he is … he has an incredible
basketball IQ, and he has the frame to go with it.
“It’s an awesome accomplishment. I’m very happy for him,” he added.
Carling
led Athens with 19 points and four rebounds, while Babcock had 15
points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots, and
senior Tucker Brown added five points and six rebounds.
Pritchard
chipped in with four points and six rebounds in the win, and junior
Mason Lister had five points, three boards, three assists, three steals,
and one blocked shot.
Adams led Wellsboro with 14 points and four 3-pointers, and Liam Manning added eight points.
With the win, Athens remains 1 game behind Troy in the Large School standings. The Wildcats travel to Troy Saturday night.
“We’ve
been taking it one game at a time,” said Lister. “If we get through the
Troy game (Saturday), we still have to go to Towanda Monday, and we
still have to go to Williamson Wednesday night.
“We just have to keep our foot on the gas, and keep going.
“Troy
is a big one tomorrow night, I’m sure that’s going to be a packed
house,” added Lister. “We have to bring it, and be ready.”
Lister continues to be impressed with the support his teams has received from the student body.
“A
huge shout-out to the student section, they were awesome again
tonight,” he said. “The school spirit is incredible, and I hope they all
come to Troy (Saturday) night.”
ATHENS — Athens used balanced scoring to pull away from North
Penn-Mansfield for a 45-24 win here Wednesday night in NTL junior
varsity boys basketball action.
Four different Wildcats put their names in the scoring column in the first quarter, helping them to a 9-8 win.
Six
Wildcats scored in the second quarter, including Nicholas Jacob and
Korey Miller who connected on 3-pointers, in a 15-5 run that extended
the Athens lead to 24-13 at the half.
Peter Jones and Xavier
Watson scored four points apiece in the third quarter in a 13-6 run that
pushed the lead to 37-19 entering the final seven minutes.
Ten different Wildcats scored in the win, led by Watson and Kolsen Keathley, who had nine and eight points, respectively
Jase
Babcock had seven points and three rebounds in the win, while Jack
Cheresnowsky had four points and four rebounds, Miller had four points,
rebounds, four assists, and one blocked shot, Jones had four points and
five rebounds, and Troy Rosenbloom had four rebounds, three steals, and
one blocked shot.
Athens returns to action Friday when it hosts Wellsboro.
ATHENS — Fueled by its full-court pressure, Athens used a 28-2 run in a
12-minute span that extended from the first to the third quarters on its
way to a 63-25 win over North Penn-Mansfield here Wednesday night in
NTL Large School Division boys basketball action.
“We came out in
our 1-3-1 just to get the boys warmed up,” said Athens coach Jim
Lister. “We switched to the full-court press, and played some of our
best defense of the season.
“We forced turnovers, and turned them into a boatload of points in transition,” noted Lister.
Lister was especially pleased with his team’s performance considering it had been off since Jan. 29.
“This
was a group of kids who have been cooped up for 11 days, and they were
able to release a lot of frustrations tonight,” said Lister.
“And,
I’ve been saying since Day 1 that our second five could start for a lot
of teams in the area,” noted Lister. “I think it helped us to beat up
on each other for the last 11 days.
“I was very pleased with our
intensity tonight,” added Lister. “The boys played extremely hard, and
our defense was outstanding.”
Karson Dominick knocked down a
3-pointer to give NP-M a 5-2 lead then added a pair of buckets in the
paint to make it 9-6 with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter.
After
a lay-up by senior J.J. Babcock of an in-bounds play cut the deficit to
9-8, Dominick, who scored nine points in the stanza, made a pair of
free throws to give the Tigers an 11-8 with 3:11 remaining in the first
quarter.
On the Wildcats’ next possession, they hit the offensive
boards. On their fourth shot of the possession, Lister canned a
3-pointer from the win with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter to tie
the game at 11-11.
With 1:30 remaining, Lister scored in
transition to make it 13-11. Moments later, Athens forced a turnover
with its press, and Babcock knocked down an 18-foot jumper to make it
15-11.
Senior Nalen Carling drained a runner with 1 second remaining to give the Wildcats a 17-11 lead after the first eight minutes.
The
second quarter was all Athens. Its pressure defense resulted in 14 NP-M
turnovers in the stanza, including in each of its final 10 possessions
of the half. The Tigers did not get a shot off in the final 4 1/2
minutes of the second quarter.
After a blocked shot by Babcock, Lister scored in transition to make it 19-11 with 7:30 remaining in the first half.
Dominick
scored off an in-bounds play with 6:45 left in the half to close the
gap to 19-13, but that was NP-M’s only bucket in Athens’ 19-2
seconds-quarter run.
After Carling scored on a putback, Brown
scooped up a loose ball and found Babcock for a dunk to make it 23-13
with 5:28 remaining in the half.
Lister knocked down another
3-pointer with 3:32 remaining in the half to make it 26-13. Moments
later, after another NP-M turnover, Lister dropped a behind-his-back
pass to Babcock for an emphatic dunk with 3:10 remaining to extend the
lead to 28-13.
A driving lay-up by senior Tucker Brown with 9 seconds remaining gave the Wildcats a 34-13 lead at the half.
Senior Troy Pritchard capped the 26-2 run with a drive down the lane with 6:50 left in the third quarter to make it 36-13.
After
a putback by Dominick closed the gap to 36-15 with 6:40 remaining, the
Wildcats went on a 15-0 blitz to take a 51-15 lead with 3:10 remaining
in the third quarter. Lister scored six points in the run, and Brown
added five points, including an old-fashioned three-point play.
Lister
led Athens with 18 points, while Babcock scored 12 points, Brown had 11
points, Carling had eight points, sophomore Carson Smith added six
points, and freshman Kolsen Keathley chipped in with four points.
Dominick led NP-M with 14 points, and Brody Burleigh added seven.
Lister was not only pleased with his team’s performance, but also by the support from the student section.
“The
student section was out in force,” he said. “They were awesome, they
were loud, and I hope to see them Friday and Saturday night.”
Athens, now 13-5, returns to action Friday when it hosts Wellsboro. The Wildcats travel to Troy Saturday.