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The Athens Bulldogs march into the post season with a solid close to the season, lead by defense and senior leadership. Those two elements will need to be sharp taking on the Logan Elm Braves Friday night at Logan High School on 970 WATH, and 97.1 FM.

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Good luck to both teams and thanks for listening.

Nice to see the game being broadcast for those who can not attend.

I'll take the Braves.

Advantage probably goes to LE, but I will be rooting for the TVC. Athens needs to continue playing defense the way they have for the last half dozen games of the season.

If I remember right, Coach Stiverson and the Braves love to play tough man-to-man defense and really get into their opponents face all game ... Athens struggled early on after losing Sharp when it faced that type of pressure - but have done a really nice job of handling it here down the stretch ... I like the bulldogs chances of winning if they are able to get open looks at the 'three' all night - but if they have to attack the basket and rely on Stanley, Ellmore on the block or Joey, Josh & Kramer slashing to the hoop - it will be a much tougher game to win. BUT DEFINITLY POSSIBLE!

What's the tip off time for this game? I don't get off work until 7pm, so it'd be tough to make it to Logan in time if it's at 7.

This is definitely a winnable for Athens if Logan Elm doesn't come prepared. LE has proven that it can have great play (handing Chesapeake their only loss and coming very close to handing Bloom Carroll theirs) or it can have an off night (Teays Valley). I think Stiverson will have the team geared up to play this one. Good luck to both teams Friday night.

GO BRAVES!

Game tips at 6pm.

This isn't a great LE team like we've seen in the past, but they still have Coach Stiverson and some talented players and are very dangerous.

LE still should be favored in this one, but I'd expect it to be a very competitive game. I'll take LE 49-40.

... first team to 50 wins this one ...

Like your prediction pfloyd. LE has always been good defensively and Athens seems to be geared up to hold teams under the 50 mark.

pfloyd wrote:... first team to 50 wins this one ...

We can play on those terms ... We had to play AT WARREN with a simalar situation - and stayed with one of the better teams in D2 for awhile ... Final score: Warren 46, Athens 34

Which begs the question Floyd ... What happens if neither team reaches 50? Can we keep playing till someone hits it?

93dog ... IF neither team reaches 50 at the end of regulation - there will be a "shoot off from the Chieftain head" ... best of 10 shots, 3 players, 3 shots each. worth 1 point each shot made, with a final "money ball" worth 5 points taken by a player outside the original 3 participants for the particular team ...

... if that doesn't work then we'll just match scorecards beginning with the #1 handicap hole, then #2 etc. until we have a winner !!! LOL

According to Logan Elm website they have given up over 50 points 4 times and they lost three of those games: at canal, at bloom and home vs bloom. They gave up 51 to Fairfield union but won that game. They have held the other team under 45 twelve time this year. A quick calculation shows they are averaging 56 ppg and giving up 43.

According to 93bulldogs data on the TVC website Athens is scoring 50.1 ppg and giving up 51.6 ppg. They have given up over 50 nine times this season losing 8 of the 9.

In last years sectional final games only three teams of the 8 teams made it to 50: Chillicothe (57), Waverly (55) and Warren (53). These sectional finals tend to be low scoring games as well as the D-II district games.

My prediction Logan Elm 49-Athens 39

pfloyd wrote:93dog ... IF neither team reaches 50 at the end of regulation - there will be a "shoot off from the Chieftain head" ... best of 10 shots, 3 players, 3 shots each. worth 1 point each shot made, with a final "money ball" worth 5 points taken by a player outside the original 3 participants for the particular team ...

... if that doesn't work then we'll just match scorecards beginning with the #1 handicap hole, then #2 etc. until we have a winner !!! LOL

Making a 'Bulldog' shoot from a 'Chieftain' head just doesn't seem fair in my book ...

THX OPEN POST FOR THE INFO!

Since Braves and Chieftains are brothers, will the Chieftain be donning red and black on Friday?

Good info openpost.

absolutely bman. Coach Stiverson graduated from Logan. Plus, its against an old rival in Athens. After seeing both teams play a few times each, I think this one could get ugly. Athens hasnt faced a defense like Logan Elm all year. I'll be sitting near the wall hoping for some great basketball! Good luck to both teams!

I'm old enough to have watched Stiverson play in those Athens/Logan rivalry games ... Let me see here; yep - I still hate him!

You can take the Chieftain out of Logan - but you can't take the Logan out of the Chieftain ... He may be a 'Brave' now, but he probably still bleeds purple & white - and for that - I'm gonna have to cheer against him even more.

I agree that this one could get ugly. Athens has been playing great D against a weak TVC and Logan Elm is very physical. Hope Skinner and the Bulldogs can pull it off, but I say 57-42 Logan Elm.

I have not seen Athens this year, do they have any height? Logan Elm seems to struggle against teams with a good "big man". How deep of a bench do they have?

Roster is here ... http://trivalleyconference.com/Athens.html

Are they clearing the gym or can we see both games if we come at 6?