Lady Bulldogs win final SEOAL Day of Champions game

[NYBuckeye96]

The Lady Bulldogs (3-17) defeated the Lady Trojans (2-18 ) by a final score of 52-36 to win 9th place in the SEOAL Day of Champions. It was the second victory over Portsmouth for Athens this season.

There is a nice article on this game in today's Athens Messenger. Congrats to the Lady Bulldogs!

Athens handles Portsmouth

KEVIN WISEMAN
Sports Editor

For the Athens Lady Bulldogs, everything finally clicked.
Athens played lock-down defense and got plenty of shots to fall in a 52-36 victory over Portsmouth in the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League's ninth-place game in the Day of Champions on Friday.

"I thought it was a good effort," Athens coach Jeff Short said. "I told the girls before the game that we just needed to make some shots. And once we did that our confidence would build, we'd play stronger defense. And that's exactly what we did."

The win was the Bulldogs (3-17) second of the season against the Trojans (2-18 ). The first matchup was a double overtime thriller. No such extra time was needed in Charles McAfee Gymnasium this time however.

Athens had a balanced offensive attack, placing 11 players in the scoring column. Adrianna Lein led the way with 11 points.

"Adrianna's got an excellent shot," Short said. "Once she's open, she gets her feet set, she's pretty much lights out. So that's what we try to do. We try to get her the ball on the skip pass, and that way the defense has to rotate over against her. If she gets a second, she's pretty good."

Abie Salyer joined Lein in double figures with 10 points. Anna Pomento scored eight for the Bulldogs.

"I know it's late in the season, but we're still building our confidence," Short said. "And this was a good win for us going into the tournament. I think we're more patient on offense and I think we're having more confidence in our ability to shoot the basketball because we haven't shot very well this season. When you make a couple buckets right away it just builds your confidence."

Athens built up a 26-19 advantage at halftime before delivering a knockout performance in the third quarter. The Bulldogs 2-3 zone defense played at a high level, and the Trojans were unable to get any shots to fall. Portsmouth was outscored 14-2 in the quarter, with its only points coming from free throws by Maggee Colley with 2:23 left. The Trojans committed 12 turnovers in the frame.

Athens had impressive defensive streaks in the second and third quarters. The Bulldogs held Portsmouth scoreless for 7:22 during a 14-0 run to take a 36-19 lead. Even more impressive was that Athens held Portsmouth without a field goal for 13:13. With 4:18 left in the second quarter, the Trojans Cassie Taylor hit a field goal to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 19-16. Portsmouth's next field goal came with 7:05 to go in the fourth quarter on a Ruthie Stanley bucket. By that time, Athens had build a commanding 40-24 lead.

"We tried to contain (Taylor)," Short said. "She scored 19 against us the first game. That was our goal, to contain her. And we did that. We made the other players from Portsmouth try and step up and beat us. And they struggled with that."

Taylor was held to just six points in the game. Portsmouth's leading scorer was Colley, who finished with 12 points. Jaysha McGinnis chipped in nine points for the Trojans.

"Our guards on top of our 2-3 zone did an amazing job," Short said. "Our wings down low did a nice job closing out in the corners. Then we fronted the big people down on the baseline and they really didn't have any place to go. They were hurrying their shots because our defense was closing out on them. They really weren't getting set. I think they were a little bit out of rhythm. We flustered them which was exactly what we wanted."

Portsmouth made 9-of-42 shots from the field, a 21 percent clip. The Trojans also turned the ball over 29 times. Athens recorded 19 steals, led by Bekah Grippa (six steals) and Robin Morley (five steals).

The win gives the Bulldogs a chance to take some momentum into the Division II Sectional Tournament, which begins on Monday. Athens will take on Jackson at Alexander High School at 8 p.m. It's the fourth year in a row the Bulldogs have battled the Ironladies in the sectional tournament.

"We're glad we can finish the season out with a win," Short said of Friday's effort. "And we know that we have our hands full with Jackson. And if we can defensive rebound and score just enough points to get our confidence up, I think we can play with them a little bit."

http://www.athensmessenger.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=388&ArticleID=8273

[noreply66]

Congrats to the Athens Ladies

[qualified101]

congrats to coach short

[NYBuckeye96]

The Lady Bulldogs lost their Division II sectional game against Jackson by a final score of 34-22 to finish 3-18 on the season.

The Lady Bulldogs will look to the off season to prepare for their first season in the Tri Valley Conference Ohio Division next season. Welcome to the TVC OHIO Lady Bulldogs!