H.S. BOYS BASKETBALL: WAVERLY TOPS ATHENS, 76-66, IN UNICO SHOWCASE GAME (24 PHOTOS) (December 20, 2025)
Valley Sports ReportWAVERLY — Waverly built an eight-point halftime lead, and held off Athens in the second half for a 76-66 win in the UNICO Showcase game here Saturday afternoon in non-league boys basketball action.
"Winning against a crosstown rival is always nice, but we know we didn’t play as well as we would have liked," said longtime Waverly coach Lou Judson.
"We had too many defensive lapses in the half-court and in transition to consistently win in our league.
"We put a lot of points on the board, but gave up way too many," noted Judson. "We built a 15- to 17-point lead on several occasions, but struggled to put them away.
"I thought (Athens) shot the ball very well and continued coming at us all game long.
"I’ve always thought, 'if you can still win when not playing your best, you have a good team'" added Judson.
"Tonight was a good, hard-fought game for both teams," said Athens coach Jim Lister.
"Kudos to Hogan Shaw for making us pay for leaving him open to much.
"We missed too many free throws tonight, 10 I believe," noted Lister.
"I told the kids after the game they continue to play hard but they need to fix the little things to be successful," added Lister. "I will keep signing them up to play good non-league games because they will only get better from it."
Senior Hogan Shaw pumped in seven points, including a 3-pointer, in the first quarter, and junior Bryce LaForest and senior Porter Daddona canned 3-pointers to help the Wolverines to an 18-14 lead after the first eight minutes.
Junior Lucas Schultz scored six points in the first quarter for the Wildcats, and freshman Aiden Briggs and senior Adam Kemp each knocked down 3-pointers.
Sophomore Jack Pipher drained a 3-pointer and converted an old-fashioned three-point play in the second quarter, while junior Ben Shaw and Daddona added four points apiece as the Wolverines outscored Athens, 18-14, again to take a 36-28 lead into the halftime intermission.
Briggs and Hobday each connected from behind the 3-point arc to keep the Wildcats close.
Schultz scored seven points, including a 3-pointer and conventional three-point play, in the third quarter, and senior Eli Hobday drained a pair of 3-pointer as Athens picked up its offensive output, but Waverly outscored them 21-20 in the stanza to take a 57-48 lead, thanks in large part to Hogan Shaw, who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored 12 points points.
The Wolverines had eight different players put their name in the scoring column in the fourth quarter, and made 9 of 12 free throws to nail down the win.
The teams combined for 18 3-pointers — 11 by Athens and seven by Waverly.
The Wolverines were 19 of 24 from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats were 15 of 25.
Hogan Shaw led Waverly with 24 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, three assists, and four steals, and Daddona scored 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds and dished out three assists
Pipher scored 10 points in the win, while LaForest had nine points, Ben Shaw had six points, four rebounds, five assists, and three steals, and enior Carter Davies scored six points and hauled down 10 boards.
Schultz led Athens with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Briggs had 15 points, including four 3-pointers, and senior Nick Grazul had 10 points.
Hobday had nine points on a trio of 3-pointers, and Kemp had seven points.
Waverly, now 3-1, travels to Windsor Monday, while Athens, now 3-2, is off until Saturday and the opening round of the Athens Holiday Tournament.
"We don’t have much time to enjoy this win as we turn around and play a very good Windsor team Monday," said Judson. "We have a few things to work on and know we will continue to get better."
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Hogan Shaw is guard by Athens' Aiden Briggs. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly Ben Shaw (25) takes a shot over Athens' Nick Grazul, while Waverly's Braiden Judson (12) looks on. ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
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