Warren Athens

[93Bulldog]

I believe we did tape it ... BUT ... Nelsonville T.V. cable was doing the game last night as well - if you want a VIDEO copy, maybe look into contacting them ... I'm pretty sure you can purchase copies.

[warriorfrosh]

What a great high school basketball game! Warren is very fortunate to be moving on....as expected it was a battle of two very good young teams with several runs, Warren in the 1st and Athens in the 2nd and 3rd....and the 4th quarter the likes most of us have never seen before!! Wow, exhausting just to watch...wish the refs had not been a factor, the early game Thursday had very few fouls called....but that 4th quarter, Warren being down 13, and even as they started hitting shots, Athens answered every time, until midway in the quarter....Burrows and French, Burrows and French....French showed everyone why he is the DII SE POY....I was thinking to myself the only way we win is if French takes over....and he did....I have all the respect in the world for Athens kids and coaches...I saw no whining from coaches, just bleeding their school color wanting to win bad...too bad someone had to lose....I'm hoping we get pfloyds napkins stats, his perspective....93 you're a gentleman....best of luck to Athens next year....

[bullfrog93]

Just like in the regular season, when your coach spends more time screaming at the officials than he does coaching the outcome is usually not good. The regular season version ended with him screaming while he had two time outs in his pocket if my memory is correct. But let's give credit where it is due. Both teams played their hearts out, and Warren deserves to move on.

The best part was when Burrow had the ball near the bench trying to ask the coach a question, but the coach was too busy still throwing a fit and screaming about the no call from when Saltzman drove to the basket a few minutes earlier. So I guess screaming at the officials is a strategy now? At least when he calls a time out he gives the team a chance to win. Unless of course he spends the whole time out screaming at the refs. In the earlier game he never gave his team a chance with his tirade. As for a great coaching job this year, a chair could have coached those kids. Set a few picks with your biggs and let the other three run around and make something happen. Looks pretty simple to me.

[93Bulldog]

Like I said ... you gotta love 'bleacher coaches'

[bman]

Does Athens have a very talented basketball team? Yes, but it's also an inexperienced team as far as a lot of tournament success coming into this season, and that can be an issue. To get a team mostly of freshmen and sophomores to the Sweet 16 and within an eyelash of the Elite Eight that haven't been through many of these tournament battles speaks highly of Coach Skinner, his staff, the kids and the AHS program right now. It'll be a treat watching Athens and Warren battling for it again next year against some challengers like Logan Elm, Miami Trace, Washington CH, Unioto and maybe a dark horse like Circleville.

Hopefully we can continue to get two out to regionals. Have to see how the enrollements from across the state line-up.

Best of luck to Warren in the Elite Eight.

[bman]

I'd also add that if you've been attending games at the Convo for any significant period of time, we've seen a lot of funny things happen. Teams that really had no business, on paper, beating another team or taking a team right down to the wire.

This season has been marked by a lot of wild momentum swings. I only attended two games - MT vs. LE and Athens vs. Chilli - both those and others had some big swings back and forth. Look at last night's game, with both Warren and Athens had an opportunity to pull away and couldn't from the sounds of it. Makes for some exciting basketball - back-and-forth - and especially when it goes into overtime.

[Bazinga!]

Bleacher coaches AND bleacher officials. You people just need to take it for what it was..... A great ballgame from 2 great teams. You don't like the outcome you blame the coach or the refs. For every " bad call" there was one your team got away with. It evens out. No one remembers that. Enjoy getting to watch these kids play. It's not every year your schools team is going to accomplish this great feat

[93Bulldog]

Last nights loss was tough, listening to the Eastern girls lose a close one this afternoon in the state tournament was tough as well ... so I decide to go down to the rec center to get rid of some stress - and I gotta say - I feel much better. Why? Becuase only a few hours removed from losing in the sweet 16 to Warren, Ibi Watson was already down at the gym shooting jumpers and working on his game ... Ah yes, sure made me feel all warm and cozy inside knowing and seeing how dedicated this young man is ... lol ... and the fact he is only 15 years old just makes it even better. All the Athens kids are just pups and they are for sure gonna hit a growth spurt over the next year - heck, I don't think any of them even shave yet ... All I have to say is this: dear Warren Warriros - we shall see you again!

[WarriorBlue]

Amazing game last night 4sure. 2 very talented teams that battled till the buzzar sounded. At the end of the day Warren imposed their will on a younger team. 7 turnovers in the 4th quarter allowed Warren the opportunity to hit some big shots and make that final push. I thought the officiating was horrible both ways. The 2nd quarter when the Warriors were getting ready to stretch out a 10 point lead the officials started calling horrible touch fouls. Warren couldn't get in breathing distance without a foul being called. Advantage Bulldogs! In the 4th quarter when Warren was making their comeback the officials wouldn't call ANYTHING. The Athens kids were getting mugged and No Call. Advantage Warriors! Either way its a poor job by his crew.
All the kids put on a great show and both should be proud for what they've accomplished this season.

93Dog..... I'm sure we will meet again I'm looking forward to it. Will be some great games 4sure.

GO BIG BAD BLUE!

[pfloyd]

... before I post anything about the game I would like to THANK both of these excellent basketball TEAMS ... great players ALL, great coaches BOTH, great fans for BOTH schools ... THANK YOU for leaving everything on the floor and then some ... one of those cases where you hate that either one of the two TEAMS had to lose ... I could have stayed and watched both of those groups of youngsters go at it for as many extra periods as they cared to go ... THANK YOU - I'm still smiling about the play on both sides last night, EVERY person to a man that I saw today greeted me with "What a game last night!!!" ... Thank you ...

... WOW!!! WHAT A GAME !!! between two of the best high school teams Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line ... last nights semi final game between the Athens Bulldogs and the Warren Warriors has a legacy that will continue into the 2013 - 2014 season... both teams are talented, young, return the main cogs of their respective squads, both have their eyes fixed on runs into the tournament - the Regional Final , then onto the Final Four ... so much talent on the floor for both teams last night ... Warren drew first blood getting a three from THEIR "Big" Dylan Leffingwell , DL showed early on that the matchup with Jared Elmore was one sided in favor of the Warren big man - inside or getting to the rim off the dribble was a mismatch for the Athens post man - Leffingwell was too quick/the Warren big man led WHS in scoring in the first 2 quarters (9 pts) ... Warren got scoring from all corners of the court in period 1 & 2 ( Evan Yabs a trey, Reece Patton 4 pts., Danny Pannell a three ball, Adam Lang 3 pts - the only non scorers were French and Hall in the first) Warren went 3/6 from downtown in the first period ... Athens was led by Joey Burrow (8 pts) 2 threes in the opening quarter, Ibi Watson added 3 pts to round out the Bulldog scoring after one ... Warren 18 Athens 11 end of one ... Athens offensively except for Burrow was anemic at best thru 1 1/2 quarters but as every game has its ebs and flows this one was no different - as we have watched at the Convo with seemingly EVERY game the folks in stripes had swallowed their whistles, in almost every game unless blood was drawn fouls were few and far between ... in quarter number 2 the refs decided to cough up the whistles and become part of the game - Warren was whistled for 10 fouls in quarter number 2, every WHS starter was whistled for 2 fouls - bench time for French/Patton/Hall/Leffingwell/Yabs ... Coach Maddox went 9 deep on his bench ... the offensive flow that Warren showed in the 1st quarter had disappeared/ trailing 22-11 with 4:43 left in the second Coach Skinner for Athens called a time out ... after the TO, and with Warren starters riding the bench with personal fouls, the Bulldogs showed their zone defense for the first time in the game ... ALL of the ingredients for a "perfect storm" were in place for AHS ... the fouls on Warren put Athens at the line, Warren had no scorers on the floor, Athens whittled away at the lead offensively while holding Warren to 2 points the rest of the quarter ... Warren 24 Athens 21 at intermission ... Quarter number 3 continued the Athens assault, the "perfect storm" was unleashing it's fury on the Warriors - Athens from the 4:43 mark of the 2nd to the end of the 3rd went on a 35-11 run ! led by the " 3 youngin's" - Watson (fr)/Saltzman (fr) and Burrow (soph) - the trio knocked down 31 pts (3/6 triples) in the 35 pt Athens blitz ... as impressive as the offensive run for the Bulldogs was imo holding Warren to 11 points in almost 12 minutes of clock was just as impressive, Athens held Evan French to a total of 2 pts thru 3 qtrs/Michael Hall 5/Reece Patton 6 - great stuff to watch from the Cheap Seats ... Athens 46 Warren 35 after three ... Storms - as bad as they can be, even the "perfect storms" have something in common - they have an end ... for Warren the storm clouds gave way to Evan French - instead of being a "perfect storm" French was simply "perfect" in the 4th quarter ... the junior poured in 21 points in the quarter/ 3 for 3 from behind the arc, 6/6 from the FT line ... by the time there was even a "cloud in the sky" the Warriors - with French providing the offensive assault,TEAM Big Bad Blue forcing the Bulldogs to turn the ball over 7 times - and even with the best that Joey Burrow (8 points in the 4th/2 threes) could muster - Warren had come all the way back tying the game at 60-60 with 1:36 to play in regulation (whew!!! I'm excited just typing that stuff! LOL) ... the final minute and half saw French hit a 15 foot jumper and 2 Ibi Watson "ice in his veins" FTs to tie it at 62-62 ... the Bulldogs had the ball with :09.4 seconds to play ... side out at mid court, inbound in the back court/ pass back to Burrow who took his eyes off of the pass - ball was going out of bounds Burrow with a GREAT athletic save back to Watson ( a BAD save would have had Warren going the other way for a transition 2 for the win) Watson was unable to get the ball off at the buzzer! Athens 62 Warren 62 end of regulation ... sitting in the cheap seats I was looking for Athens to get the ball into Saltzman's hands - the kid "gets to the rim" - if he doesn't score he goes to the line - didn't happen - this one went OT ... Warren went on a 27-16 run in the fourth to forge the tie, momentum was wearing the Blue & White, the game was safely in the hands of Evan French ... French had 6 points in OT, the Warriors defensively turned Athens over 4 times in the overtime period, from the line WHS was 6/8 in OT ... Warriors move on to the Elite 8 ... Warren 74 Athens 69 OT a final ...


... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Athens ...

Scoring : Joey Burrow 28, Ibi Watson 22, Zacchia Saltzman 13, Ryan Leuhrman 2, Adam Leuhrman 2, Jared Elmore 2

3 Pointers : 8/19 ... Burrow 6, Watson 1, Saltzman 1

FT's : 14/24

TOs: 14 ... 11 turnovers in the 4th & OT combined


... Congratulations to Coach Skinner and the Athens TEAM ... a pleasure to watch the Bulldogs this season, great accomplishment for such a youngster loaded team to make the regional semi finals even more impressive for them to play themselves into a position to be right there with a chance to move on to the Elite 8 ... the Bulldogs with Watson/Burrow/Saltzman/Leuhrman 'squared" will be battling it out for SEOhio regional supremacy for the next few years to come ... as far as a final imo on the game - the Warren comeback ? was a combination of WHS pressure defensively in the 4th/AHS youth getting rattled under the pressure AND a couple of TIMELY calls going in favor of the Warriors to keep the onslaught rolling (i.e. the phantom over & back call) ...


... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Warren...


Scoring : Evan French 29 (27 pts. in the 4th/OT periods), Dylan Leffingwell 14, Reece Patton 13, Adam Lang 6, Michael Hall 6, Evan Yabs 3, Danny Pannell 3

3 pointers : 6/18 ... French 3, Yabs 1, Pannell 1, Leffingwell 1

FT's : 20/27 ... 13/16 in the 4th/OT periods

TOs : 10


... what can you say - the Big Stage brings the best out in some players - those that accept the pressures of the game - Evan French put the Warriors on his back and carried them to the regional final ... I watched Evan French throw down 44 points at Chillicothe during the regular season - the 29 points/21 in the 4th last night I won't forget this performance by Mr. French - incredible ... in the Athens stat line - I mentioned that it looked like the Bulldog youth showed up in the 4th (TO wise/shot selection wise) ... imo the Warren composure - a reflection of Coach Maddox's game demeanor - allowed the BBB to come back in this one ... nothing was rushed - passes/shots - even as the clock ran down, even as Lou bellowed "2 minutes! 2 minutes to the Elite 8!" - composure/floor leadership by French/Leffingwell/Yabs/Pannell/Patton/Hall/Adam Long - TEAM BBB ... great game !!! Congratulations to Coach Maddox, Coach Duckworth, Coach Mitchem (you can breath now !) ... Best of luck in representing the SE District tomorrow at 3 pm vs New Philly !!!

[Been B&B]

REALLY HAPPY FOR WARREN!! Coach Maddox has been knocking on the door for a long time finally Mr. French answered and I don't mean the one from the 60's sit-com.(SHOWING MY AGE) I mean EVAN FRENCH. I am not a Warren fan but I have witnessed basketball for 50 years and that was one of the most incredible displays I have seen under pressure. Officials did not cause one team to win over the other. The fouls that Warren committed in the first half were fouls..Sorry but that's the truth... I know when the scoreboard read 10 for Warren and only four for Athens fans think the officials aren't calling them equally..but I was sitting behind Athens' bench and they did not miss too many calls the first half on Warren's offensive end...I am not a Warren fan but I am rooting for them just like I would have been rooting for Athens had they won.. Also when Athens called time out with 9.4 secs left, I told the guy I was with, I would have let Burrows take his man one on one right then without the timeout.. but you know that if he didn't call time out people would be saying "WHY DIDN'T HE CALL A TIMEOUT!!"

[Raider6309]

Really tough one for us at athens. Game turned when burrow got 4th after putting up 25, up 11. Should have left him on French. Only had 2 on burrow. Great win for warren. Come out fast on new Philly. They will have the big head