Friday Night : Athens 77 Warren 65 a final
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:12 pm
Athens 77
Warren 65 a final
... if I'm not mistaken , and according the most recent records Athens had not beaten the Warren Warriors for "at least" 16 years ... talk about a team having another teams number ! ... all that came to an end at McAfee Gymnasium in The Plains last night as the 2020 edition Bulldogs of Coach Cozart took one from the Warriors of Warren 77-65 ... Athens entered tonight's game 9-3 with no "signature" wins ... 3 losses - Alexander/Chesapeake/ Lancaster ... the Warriors of Coach Maddox stood at 8-4 playing one of the toughest schedules in SEOhio this season ...
... the Bulldogs came to play ! as they jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the opening quarter at the 3:37 mark behind 7 points from Brayden Markins and 4 from Isaiah Butcher ... Warren stayed within striking distance going on a 10-1 run to finish out the period getting scoring from across the board led by Brandon Simoniette's 4 points/a trey from Joel Chevalier / deuces from Jake Bumgard/Dylan Place and Josh Welch ... Athens 17 Warren 13 after 1 ... after watching the 1st quarter the script was set - this was going to be a game of runs Athens with the 17-6 run over the first 4:21 of the 1st followed by Warrens 10-1 run to finish the 1st ... the second quarter saw Warren get it's first and only lead of the game 18-17 with 7:10 to play in the 2nd ... Athens came across as the quicker of the 2 teams, the Bulldogs pushed the ball from the opening tip off thru the 4th period ... just as the Bulldogs were the aggressors on the boards at both ends ... Warren never seemed to find the range anywhere on the court - inside (Warren 24 points in the paint vs Athens's 48 points in the paint) or outside (Warren 7/27 from downtown vs Athens not relying on the 3 ball 2/11) ... Athens on the boards had 5 putback buckets on the offensive while Warren was only able to corral 1 putback on the night for points) ... Warren has always had a history of a couple of things - defensively being able to turn the opponent over and get transition buckets - last night the Warriors turned Athens over a whopping 24 times BUT could only come up with 3 fgs in the transition game while Athens only forced 10 WHS miscues but took half them to the house for points in transition (10 points in transition) ... quarter 2 was played fairly even as Athens maintained it's lead an then some outscoring Warren 19-16 ... Athens showcased what has become Coach Cozart's go to guys on offense - Isaiah Butcher/Brayden Markins/Brayden Whiting (6/11/7 points respectively in the first half) ... the Warriors were led in the half by Brandon Simoniette's 10 points/Evan Bryd 5 ... Athens 36 Warren 29 at the half ... the 3rd quarter ended up the most exciting of the game as Athens looked to put their foot on the Warriors throats pushing the ball up court at every opportunity and pushing the BBB further behind on the scoreboard ... I mentioned earlier that Warren has a history of "a couple things" the first being getting points in transition (vs Athens last night THAT was limited to 6 points on 24 Athens TOs) the second ? Warren has a history of not being able to score the ball over "extended" periods of time - last night opening the 3rd WHS went scoreless for the first 2:25 falling behind 29-43 ... it seemed Warren was chasing the Bulldogs all night - never being able to get over the hump , not getting "THE" Shot to fall when needed most ... so many missed inside shots for the Warriors - many AT THE RIM ... after the 7-0 Athens run to open the 3rd the Warriors FOUND their D, turning Athens 9 times in the quarter ... going on their own 21-7 run with wild 10.5 sec segment at the end when the Warriors dropped in 8 points to pull to 50-50 scoreboard after 3 ... the final/deciding period was just a mini version of the first 2 - Athens' speed put the Warrior behind the 8 ball with 2 quick buckets on drives to the rim by Andrew Stevens and a midrange jumper & an "at the rim" by Brayden Whiting ... 8-0 run by Athens forced the Warriors to put up 3's which on this night weren't finding their mark ... Warren was held scoreless in the 4th until the 5:11 mark of the final period ... Athens threw down 27 points in the 4th closing out the game going 11/14 from the FT line ... Athens 77 Warren 65 a final ending a 16+ year drought vs Coach Maddox and the Warriors of Warren ...
... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Warren
Scoring ... Brandon Simoniette 18, Joel Chevalier 12, Branden Sallee 12, Jake Bumgard 8, Kurt Taylor 6, Evan Byrd 5, Josh Welch 2, Dylan Place 2
3 Pointers ... 7/27 ... Brandon Simoniette 2, Joel Chevalier 2, Brandon Sallee 1, Evan Byrd 1, Kurt Taylor 1
FTs ... 10/15
TOs ... 10
PnP ... 12 fgs/ 24 points in the paint
PnT ... 3 fgs/ 6 points off of transition
Pbk ... 1 fg/ 2 points on putback buckets
... it was good to see the Warriors last night and will catch them a few more times before the regular season ends in 4 weeks ... the lack of overall team speed showed last night vs a much quicker Athens club ... Athens beat the Warriors downcourt from the tip off to the final buzzer ... getting points in the paint was a struggle vs Athens (although Athens is not big) ... I thought Warren would NEED to develop a stronger inside game this season - it wasn't there last night as the shots didn't fall down low but for a stretch of a couple buckets in the 3rd period by Bumgard ... if you don't have an inside presence you better be hitting the perimeter shot - last night the 3 pointer didn't fall enough - the shots were there but finding the bottom of the net wasn't/if you aren't hitting on the perimeter you NEED to be getting boards on the offensive end - THAT wasn't there either ... best of luck to the Warriors as they take on Parkersburg next ...
... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Athens ...
Scoring ... Brayden Markins 20, Brayden Whiting 18, Isaiah Butcher 15, Nate Trainer 11, Andrew Stevens 9, Reece Wallace 2, Will Matters 2
3 Pointers ... 2/11 ... Brayden Markins 2
FTs ...... 17/23
TOs .... 24
PnP .... 24 fgs/48 points in the paint
PnT .... 5 fgs/ 10 points in transition
Pbk ..... 5 fgs/10 points on putback buckets
... great game plan , even better execution ... push the ball for 32 minutes, attack the rim, crash the boards ... the Bulldogs ALL of that for 32 minutes ... 24 TOs ! the margin of victory COULD have been wider ... my take from my first eyes on of the Bulldogs : 3 legitimate scorers , not just double digit scorers ! they can put a "Jackson (20 point spot)" up any game - Whiting/Markins/Butcher ... add Trainer/Stevens who get theirs in the flow of what the opposition D gives them - you have a darn good offensive team that DOESN'T rely on the 3 ball ... Markins/Whiting shot the ball as well as any duo I have seen this season ... congratulations to Coach Cozart and the Bulldogs - the monkey is off your back ... Marietta and Alexander up next ...
Warren 65 a final
... if I'm not mistaken , and according the most recent records Athens had not beaten the Warren Warriors for "at least" 16 years ... talk about a team having another teams number ! ... all that came to an end at McAfee Gymnasium in The Plains last night as the 2020 edition Bulldogs of Coach Cozart took one from the Warriors of Warren 77-65 ... Athens entered tonight's game 9-3 with no "signature" wins ... 3 losses - Alexander/Chesapeake/ Lancaster ... the Warriors of Coach Maddox stood at 8-4 playing one of the toughest schedules in SEOhio this season ...
... the Bulldogs came to play ! as they jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the opening quarter at the 3:37 mark behind 7 points from Brayden Markins and 4 from Isaiah Butcher ... Warren stayed within striking distance going on a 10-1 run to finish out the period getting scoring from across the board led by Brandon Simoniette's 4 points/a trey from Joel Chevalier / deuces from Jake Bumgard/Dylan Place and Josh Welch ... Athens 17 Warren 13 after 1 ... after watching the 1st quarter the script was set - this was going to be a game of runs Athens with the 17-6 run over the first 4:21 of the 1st followed by Warrens 10-1 run to finish the 1st ... the second quarter saw Warren get it's first and only lead of the game 18-17 with 7:10 to play in the 2nd ... Athens came across as the quicker of the 2 teams, the Bulldogs pushed the ball from the opening tip off thru the 4th period ... just as the Bulldogs were the aggressors on the boards at both ends ... Warren never seemed to find the range anywhere on the court - inside (Warren 24 points in the paint vs Athens's 48 points in the paint) or outside (Warren 7/27 from downtown vs Athens not relying on the 3 ball 2/11) ... Athens on the boards had 5 putback buckets on the offensive while Warren was only able to corral 1 putback on the night for points) ... Warren has always had a history of a couple of things - defensively being able to turn the opponent over and get transition buckets - last night the Warriors turned Athens over a whopping 24 times BUT could only come up with 3 fgs in the transition game while Athens only forced 10 WHS miscues but took half them to the house for points in transition (10 points in transition) ... quarter 2 was played fairly even as Athens maintained it's lead an then some outscoring Warren 19-16 ... Athens showcased what has become Coach Cozart's go to guys on offense - Isaiah Butcher/Brayden Markins/Brayden Whiting (6/11/7 points respectively in the first half) ... the Warriors were led in the half by Brandon Simoniette's 10 points/Evan Bryd 5 ... Athens 36 Warren 29 at the half ... the 3rd quarter ended up the most exciting of the game as Athens looked to put their foot on the Warriors throats pushing the ball up court at every opportunity and pushing the BBB further behind on the scoreboard ... I mentioned earlier that Warren has a history of "a couple things" the first being getting points in transition (vs Athens last night THAT was limited to 6 points on 24 Athens TOs) the second ? Warren has a history of not being able to score the ball over "extended" periods of time - last night opening the 3rd WHS went scoreless for the first 2:25 falling behind 29-43 ... it seemed Warren was chasing the Bulldogs all night - never being able to get over the hump , not getting "THE" Shot to fall when needed most ... so many missed inside shots for the Warriors - many AT THE RIM ... after the 7-0 Athens run to open the 3rd the Warriors FOUND their D, turning Athens 9 times in the quarter ... going on their own 21-7 run with wild 10.5 sec segment at the end when the Warriors dropped in 8 points to pull to 50-50 scoreboard after 3 ... the final/deciding period was just a mini version of the first 2 - Athens' speed put the Warrior behind the 8 ball with 2 quick buckets on drives to the rim by Andrew Stevens and a midrange jumper & an "at the rim" by Brayden Whiting ... 8-0 run by Athens forced the Warriors to put up 3's which on this night weren't finding their mark ... Warren was held scoreless in the 4th until the 5:11 mark of the final period ... Athens threw down 27 points in the 4th closing out the game going 11/14 from the FT line ... Athens 77 Warren 65 a final ending a 16+ year drought vs Coach Maddox and the Warriors of Warren ...
... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Warren
Scoring ... Brandon Simoniette 18, Joel Chevalier 12, Branden Sallee 12, Jake Bumgard 8, Kurt Taylor 6, Evan Byrd 5, Josh Welch 2, Dylan Place 2
3 Pointers ... 7/27 ... Brandon Simoniette 2, Joel Chevalier 2, Brandon Sallee 1, Evan Byrd 1, Kurt Taylor 1
FTs ... 10/15
TOs ... 10
PnP ... 12 fgs/ 24 points in the paint
PnT ... 3 fgs/ 6 points off of transition
Pbk ... 1 fg/ 2 points on putback buckets
... it was good to see the Warriors last night and will catch them a few more times before the regular season ends in 4 weeks ... the lack of overall team speed showed last night vs a much quicker Athens club ... Athens beat the Warriors downcourt from the tip off to the final buzzer ... getting points in the paint was a struggle vs Athens (although Athens is not big) ... I thought Warren would NEED to develop a stronger inside game this season - it wasn't there last night as the shots didn't fall down low but for a stretch of a couple buckets in the 3rd period by Bumgard ... if you don't have an inside presence you better be hitting the perimeter shot - last night the 3 pointer didn't fall enough - the shots were there but finding the bottom of the net wasn't/if you aren't hitting on the perimeter you NEED to be getting boards on the offensive end - THAT wasn't there either ... best of luck to the Warriors as they take on Parkersburg next ...
... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Athens ...
Scoring ... Brayden Markins 20, Brayden Whiting 18, Isaiah Butcher 15, Nate Trainer 11, Andrew Stevens 9, Reece Wallace 2, Will Matters 2
3 Pointers ... 2/11 ... Brayden Markins 2
FTs ...... 17/23
TOs .... 24
PnP .... 24 fgs/48 points in the paint
PnT .... 5 fgs/ 10 points in transition
Pbk ..... 5 fgs/10 points on putback buckets
... great game plan , even better execution ... push the ball for 32 minutes, attack the rim, crash the boards ... the Bulldogs ALL of that for 32 minutes ... 24 TOs ! the margin of victory COULD have been wider ... my take from my first eyes on of the Bulldogs : 3 legitimate scorers , not just double digit scorers ! they can put a "Jackson (20 point spot)" up any game - Whiting/Markins/Butcher ... add Trainer/Stevens who get theirs in the flow of what the opposition D gives them - you have a darn good offensive team that DOESN'T rely on the 3 ball ... Markins/Whiting shot the ball as well as any duo I have seen this season ... congratulations to Coach Cozart and the Bulldogs - the monkey is off your back ... Marietta and Alexander up next ...