NTL GIRLS BASKETBALL: WHEELER PROPELS ATHENS TO 48-45 WIN OVER NEB (21 PHOTOS) (2025-01-23)
By CHRIS MANNINGValley Sports ReportATHENS — A tough defense, and some big-time play by senior Addy Wheeler pushed Athens past NEB, 48-45, during NTL girls’ basketball action Thursday.
“It feels good,” Athens coach Kelly Burkhart-Allen said. “It’s been a lot of road games for us. It felt good to be back home getting one win at a time. It’s getting better every day, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do. Every time we step into the gym, whether it’s a game or a practice, we have to get better every day.”
Down 24-19 at the half, Athens held NEB to just five third-quarter points to take a 37-29 lead after three.
“I think that was key for us,” Burkhart-Allen said about that third-quarter shift in the game. “The first couple minutes coming out in the third quarter, we were able to get back into it, and tie it, then eventually take the lead; and it started defensively for us, and then we were able to get out in transition.”
They would get up by as many as 10 early in the fourth only to watch NEB rally, tying the game up at 41-all with 2:35 left to play.
The two teams went tit-for-tat, but a Wheeler assist to Sara Bronson with 35 seconds left put them up 47-45. NEB would get to the line twice after that, going 0-for-4, and Athens did the rest to pick up the win.
Addy Wheeler led the team with 15 points - 13 of them in the second half - as she also went 7ths-for-8 from the free throw line. She had a double-double with 12 rebounds, to go along with eight assists, and four steals.
It wasn’t just her scoring, though, but her ability to break down the NEB defense and find the open shooter that led to the Wildcats scoring 29 second-half points.
“Her senior leadership,” Burkhart-Allen said about Wheeler. “We knew she was capable of it all season, and she’s done it for us. She does a little bit of everything for us. We ask her to do a lot, but she’s willing to take on the challenge.”
McKenna Jarvis added 14 points, nine rebounds, and two assists before fouling out late in the game, while Bronson, and Allison Kemp had seven points apiece. Alissa Vough netted four and grabbed five rebounds.
Lillie Maynard had a double-double of 19 points and 15 boards to lead NEB, along with four steals, while Mallorie Maynard notched 15 points, six boards, and two steals, and Becca VandeMark had six points.
The teams went back-and-forth early in the game as Kemp hit a 3-ball off a Wheeler assist to put Athens up 3-0.
Mallorie Maynard came back with a lay-up, then hit a 3-ball to put NEB up 5-3.
Athens would score three straight points for a 6-5 lead, but the Panthers rallied with six straight points, capped off with a Beebe 3-ball for an 11-6 lead.
Wheeler cut it to 11-8 off a Bronson assist, but a Lillie Maynard runner, followed by a Mallorie Maynard lay-up put the Panthers up 15-8 at the first horn.
Another Mallorie Maynard bucket made it 17-8 to start the second, but Athens got back-to-back buckets from Vough to make it 17-12.
After the two teams traded free throws Mallorie Maynard stayed hot, hitting a jumper for the Panthers to make it 21-14.
Wheeler then found Jarvis for a bucket to keep it a 5-point difference. Three balls by Lillie Maynard and Bronson made it a 24-19 game at the half.
Coming out of the break, Athens scored six straight to go up 25-24 as Jarvis and Kemp both had field goals, followed by Wheeler making a pair of free throws.
A Mallorie Maynard freebie tied the game up at 25-all. Athens would go back on top as Jarvis hit a lay-up off a Wheeler assist, but a VandeMark 3-ball made that lead short-lived as she put NEB up 28-27.
Athens, though, would go on a 10-1 run to end the third, with Jarvis and Wheeler getting four points each during that span, to take the eight-point lead into the final frame.
A Jarvis putback to open the fourth made it 39-29 Wildcats, but NEB’s Lillie Maynard would score the next nine points to make it a 39-38 game with 3:25 left to play.
A Wheeler runner put the Wildcats up 41-38 with 3:05 on the clock, but a Mallorie Maynard 3-ball tied the game up at 41-a with 2:35 left to play.
Wheeler would hit a jumper, but Dughi came back with a lay-up. Jarvis put Athens back up with 1:40 on the clock behind a driving lay-up, but at the other end Lillie Maynard hit a pair of free throws to make it 45-all with 1:16 left.
The two teams would trade misses, but with 35 seconds left Wheeler found Bronson behind the NEB defense for the 47-45 lead.
NEB had chances to tie with 21.6 seconds, and 8.7 seconds to play, but went 0-for-4 from the line. Wheeler made it a 3-point game as she went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with seven seconds left.
VanDeMark got off a 3-ball before the ball, but it bounced off the rim.
Athens (10-5) hosts Trumansburg on Monday as part of a four-game week next week, which includes another meeting with Towanda.
“Every game is a new game, and everyone wants a piece,” said Burkhart-Allen. “It’s a battle. The Large School is going to be tough, there’s not going to be any nights off. We just have to take it one game at a time, and one practice at a time.”
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior Addy Wheeler. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens sophomore McKenna Jarvis. ... PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING.
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