Athens 77 OT a final
I actually recapped this one last night . I got home from Chesapeake after a 2 hour drive, recorded all of the Saturday night game results ... at about 1 am I started typing my game recap ... at 2:45am I went to post it ... the website flashed up a screen that said I wasn't logged in , I logged back in AND ALL OF THE GAME RECAP WAS GONE !!!! ... I tried to go back through everything and got nothing - it was lost ... I was tired ... I crashed ...
... it was a GREAT GAME to watch from the cheap seats ... 2 excellent teams - an Athens team with lots of talent, trying to make a statement vs one of IF not THE best team in SEOhio ... Athens having lost big to Parkersburg in their last big outing traveled to Chesapeake (a neutral court wink wink LOL) to take on a Fairland team who HAS a proven identity BUT was now looking for a NEW identity due to the untimely , possibly season ending injury to the Preseason pick to be the D3 POY Kollin Van Horn ... I as an "observer" went into the game looking for answers to come from this game - what I got , what we all took away was last nights' game was one of the best, most competitive games any of us have had a chance to watch this season ! Great stuff !
Athens showed me that they are as deep as any team in Southern/Southeastern Ohio - Coach Cozart played 10 players - the 10 are legitimate basketball players who contribute in a positive way when they are on the floor - I KNEW AHS was deep but I had not seen all of that talent working TOGETHER as it did last night ... Griffin Lutz is THE outstanding PG Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line ... he controlled the tempo of the game in regulation with what he did do and what he could do with and without the ball ... Lutz penetrated the lane for 27 points on the night while dishing to teammates Justin Hines (20pts) and Logan Maxfield (12pts) - in all Athens put up 58 points IN THE PAINT, AT THE RIM ... as Fairland was having a difficult time finding the mark from inside or outside Lutz was able to push the ball offensively vs FHS ... for 2 1/2 quarters Athens owned the game ... at 5:24 in the 3rd Athens had a 10pt cushion leading 36-26 ... even to the end of the 3rd Athens sat on a 45-38 lead going into the final period of regulation ... BUT the tide was turning as Coach Speed & staff adjusted to not having Van Horn in the paint to stop penetration, the adjustment was to 1) force Griffin Lutz to give up the ball early before he could get turned North South 2) with the ball out of Griffin Lutz's hands they put on ball pressure on everyone else - forced them to make decisions with the ball that they were not used to doing - it worked - the FHS defensive pressure turned the Bulldogs over 9 times in the 3rd period and 6 more times in the 4th/OT ... at the 5:34 mark of the 4th period Fairland finally had clawed it's way back to take the lead on an Isaiah Howell triple 51-50 ... game on ... game on meant that Fairland would continue to benefit from going to the FT line... the Dragons went 26/32 from the FT line after intermission ... Athens was called for 25 fouls in the game Fairland 19 - the difference being Athens needing to foul down the stretch in OT - so imo the fouls were even on the game ... final 2 possessions of regulation encapsulated this game for Athens in a 64-64 tie game ... AHS with the ball ... the Bulldogs ran clock to get what they thought would be the last shot ... who's hands do you want the ball in ? I know right - Griffin Lutz had not been stopped for 31 minutes, put the ball in his hands and roll the dice ... G Lutz came through as the PG went untouched to the rim Athens 66 Fairland 64 ... time out FHS :06 on the clock ... if Lutz is THE man for Athens Isaiah Howell is his counterpart for Fairland ... the ball came in to Ty Staten ... TS looked for Howell - nothing , he drove to outside the left block, double teamed, Staten as time expired split the defenders and dropped the 8 footer cleanly - the fg was Ty Staten's ONLY fg for the entire game ... 66-66 time to go OT ... outstanding stuff right there imo ... OT had Fairland getting the lead on Keedrick Cunningham's triple, followed by a floater for 2 more ... Griffin Lutz countered with 9 points in the OT ... it was not enough as FHS went to the line for 10 FTs knocking down 8 ... Fairland 81 Athens 77 OT a final ...
... Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Athens ...
Scoring ... Griffin Lutz 27, Justin Hines 20, Logan Maxfield 12, Dalton Cozart 11, Nick Lutz 4, Robert Dickelman 3
3 Pointers ... 3/9 ... Dalton Cozart 2, Robert Dickelman 1
FTs .......... 8/13
TOs ...... 18 ... 15 TOs in the 2nd half & OT
PntP..... 58
Points in Transition ... 12
... I texted 93bulldog after the game as I sat at McD's in Gallipolis ... I told him Athens was a team that "grew up" last night vs Fairland ... the motor that makes Athens go IS (surprise) Griffin Lutz BUT last night the other pieces came together ... outstanding games offensively and defensively were put in by everyone who stepped on the floor for AHS ... standouts from my cheap seat location - Justin Hines repeatedly physically took it to the hole on the inside 20 points, battling Howell on the inside - outstanding ... Logan Maxfield - never backed down inside, crashed the boards and put up 12 points ... Dalton Cozart found the range - something Athens HAS TO HAVE - an outside the arc threat - Cozart hit a couple timely triples for AHS and he got to the rim on another couple drives for fgs ... the MO for beating Athens for as long as Griffin Lutz has been there is to "take the ball out of his hands and make the rest of the team make decisions with the ball" it will continue to be that from opponents ... Athens WILL BE a "player" in the post season ... they lost but won last night - found out they can play with the best, found out that they have 10 quality pieces to the puzzle called TEAM , TEAM confidence took a step forward even in the loss to Fairland ...
... Pfloyd's official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Fairland ...
Scoring ... Isaiah Howell 23, Luke Thomas 22, Keedrick Cunningham 17, Matt Mondlak 6, Joel Lambiotte 4,Ty Staten 4
3 Pointers ... 8/21 ... Luke Thomas 4, Isaiah Howell 3, Keedrick Cunningham 1
FTs ......... 26/34 ... 26/32 after intermission ... 8/10 in OT
TOs ....... 17
PntP ..... 28
Points in Transition ... 4
... Fairland has to learn to play without a D3 POY - not many teams can just pickup and go without making adjustments ... without Kollin Van Horn Fairland has to find an inside scoring option, without Kollin Van Horn Fairland has to find a presence on the boards at both ends of the floor ... last night both were exposed as "weaknessess" (if there are any) in the Fairland armor ... without Van Horn Athens put up 58 points in the paint, imo it appeared that Athens controlled the boards at both ends, Fairland struggled to score themselves in the paint I counted unofficially 14 attempts on goal from point blank range that failed to find the mark ... without an inside presence the perimeter scoring will be affected as well - teams will be able to play straight up man without having to double down on a big inside ... last night at intermission my napkin stat sheet scribble was "average" FHS looked like many of the other good teams in Southern /Southeastern Ohio that I have seen ... what separated them from being a team that would get to the Convo from a team that would get out of the Convo was Kollin Van Horn ... we will watch and read about the Dragons the rest of the way !
*** one of the reason I make getting to the Beasts of the Southeast a MUST attend event every year is the people ! ran into the usual Chesapeake folks who do such an outstanding job in running the show, the ladies in the hospitality room outdid themselves again - everything was delicious as always ... was able to meet up with trojandave and the Portsmouth contingent as they put up with me for 3 games ... Coaches Howie Caldwell, Nathan Speed, past players now coaches on the staffs playing Evan Salyers for FHS, Austin McMasters for the Peake ... I had the pleasure to meet Gage Rhoades & his dad from Chesapeake (Gage was an outstanding guard for Chesapeake) ... Mr. Van Horn it was a pleasure to meet you as well - wishing Kollin a quick , full recovery ... and finally, thank you Coach Davis for taking care of pfloyd every year I make the trip down Rte 7 ... wishing the Panthers the best the rest of the way ...
