SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

spartacat wrote:S4L - if you are a TRUE Spartan, why are you posting sooooo many things that make the folks from Alex look so bad?

Dogs and Bucks, ignore Spartan4Life's post. The real Alexander community doesn't think that way.

Good luck to both teams and here's hoping the game is injury free.

Larry Dallas wrote:
Little Larry will also be withdrawaling from Athens and enrolling at Albany Alexander.

Good bye Athens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Balanced attack sends Buckeyes past Athens

By TROY BOLIN
Messenger staff writer

Published: Saturday, January 24, 2009 9:14 AM EST

NELSONVILLE — It’s truly amazing to watch how one decision has made such an astounding affect on the entire local sports landscape in Athens County.

When the decision was made for the Athens Bulldogs to join the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division, those who were skeptical had many questions and serious doubts about the idea of switching leagues.

The doubters, the non-believers, and even those who welcomed the change could not have possibly seen the vast differences that has occurred or imagine how well things are turning out. Everything from the actual games and their importance — to the attitude of fans, players and coaches — has changed dramatically in Athens County and almost all of it has been positive.

The Friday night showdown, between the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes and visiting Athens Bulldogs, provided more proof that having the green and gold switch leagues has been about the best thing since sliced bread. The two long-time county rivals always had some intrigue in their meetings, but nothing like what transpired on the gridiron in the fall or hardwood Friday.

The atmosphere at Ben Wagner Gymnasium was far more electric than in years past when these two teams played and the Buckeyes, on their home floor, would take full advantage. Nelsonville-York played arguably its best game of the year, with five different players scoring 12 or more points, as the Buckeyes beat the Bulldogs, 77-66.

Athens was without its leading scorer Frank Valentour. Another Bulldog starter, Cori Butcher, was also out with a high ankle sprain.

“I loved the atmosphere,” said Buckeyes coach Jay Kline after the win. “The two schools are close and (Athens coach) Paul’s (McNeal) got a lot of excitement going on down there and we started to pick up our excitement with our student body tonight. Overall it was a great atmosphere to play in and I thought both teams played really hard. We were fortunate enough to be able to do some things that allowed us to get the win.”

Choosing a player of the game for the winning Buckeyes would be fairly tough seeing as three different players, Josh Dickerson, Michael Barrick and Conner Bunting, each scored 16 points and had big plays peppered throughout the contest. The two Nelsonville-York guards, Tyler Gooden and Mychal Mitchell, could throw their hat in the ring as well after scoring 12 and 13 points respectively.

Barrick, the senior captain, might have obtained a slight edge though after the clutch performer did what he does best — make big shots when they count. The 5-foot-11, sharp shooting combo-guard, didn’t score a point in the first two quarters when his team raced out to a 36-26 halftime lead.

Athens had cut into the lead in the third period and only trailed the Buckeyes by three, 41-38, when Barrick made his first field goal on a hard drive to the basket.

His 2-pointer with 3:30 left in the third provided his team a five-point cushion, but more importantly, it broke a 12-5 run by the Bulldogs to start the second half.

Barrick wasn’t done though, not by any means.

The Bulldogs scratched and clawed their way through deficits and adversity to again to pull back to within three of the Buckeyes as the third was heading to a close. With only one second remaining, Barrick launched a long range three with hands in his face and hit nothing but the bottom of the net. The play, which gave Nelsonville-York a 50-44 lead, was a body blow to the mid section for Athens. Instead of being behind three points with momentum on its side, the Bulldogs were down six and clearly frustrated.

“The third quarter we did a good job of trying to comeback but it was a little too much and a little too late,” said Athens head coach Paul McNeal. “I thought we did a great job without Frank. Anytime you have 18 points and 12 boards per game sitting on your bench it’s going to be a challenge, and not having Cori Butcher made it even tougher.”

McNeal continued, “We’re not going to cry about who is not here and just concentrate on who is and play hard no matter what. I was pleased with what we tried to do, especially in the second half. But coach Kline did an excellent job of getting his team ready. The defense he ran made us work extra hard in trying to get matched up and they deserved the win tonight.”

Athens tried to keep coming back and kicked off the fourth with a nice 7-0 run with Matt Witten knocking down a three, Joey Stanley connecting on a shot from the low block, and Colin Pfaff taking a defensive rebound coast-to-coast for two to finish the scoring run. But Barrick quickly reminded the Bulldogs that they were in his house and drilled two straight 3-pointers after Gooden already gave the Buckeyes a three-point lead.

The clutch bombs from Barrick were a like a dagger in the heart to Bulldog fans. Barrick went on to connect on 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to keep Athens a safe distance away. Nelsonville-York closed out the fourth by shooting 15-from-18 from the charity stripe, which gave Athens absolutely no shot at a comeback.

Although Pfaff and Witten, who scored 20 and 19 respectively, had tremendous games as did Stanley, who poured in 16 to go along with seven rebounds, it just wasn’t enough to upend the Buckeyes. Nelsonville-York recorded the 77-66 victory behind free throw shooting (23-of-31), 3-point shooting (6-for-10), and of course, its five players reaching double figures probably didn’t hurt either.

Larry Dallas wrote:Big decisions are being made in the Dallas household. Today, I am resigning my coaching position and little Larry will be quitting the team. The Athens sports programs are in absolute disarray. Chuck Robinson should be blamed for the inferior hirings on our coaching staffs.

Little Larry will also be withdrawaling from Athens and enrolling at Albany Alexander.

Good bye Athens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!