HS BOYS BASKETBALL: WELL-ROUNDED EFFORT LEADS ATHENS PAST TIOGA (December 29, 2025)

By TIM TAYLOR
Valley Sports Report
ATHENS — Athens put together a well-rounded effort on the hardwood to roll past Tioga, 62-31, in the opening round of the 2025 CHOP Out Hunger Holiday Basketball Tournament here Monday.

“I thought we came out ready to play today,” Athens coach Jim Lister said. “Right from the get-go I thought we were hustling and working hard, and we moved the ball well offensively and got good looks and were able to make the shots tonight.

“Defensively, I'm thrilled. I thought they played great defense tonight. They moved well, they communicated well and I don't even know, did they have 20 points going into the fourth quarter? (Tioga had 23).

“You can't ask for much more from your team than to keep a good team in that low of scoring going into the fourth quarter. We couldn't have shot the ball much better either. Our kids just shot the ball. Being a coach, you're always looking for things that we need to improve on.”

“I thought we came out the first few minutes and things were going pretty well and it kind of got away from us in a hurry,” Tioga coach Connor Hutchinson said. “We talked about it. It was little things and if there is one, I'm not huge on moral victories, but if there was one thing, it was little things that could be fixed.”

The Wildcats started to distance themselves from the visitors late in the first quarter on the strength of an 11-0 run and did it by spreading the wealth. Nick Grazul started the burst with a free throw, then added a basket after buckets by Eli Hobday and James Friend. Aiden Briggs scored on a fast break and Talon Baglini closed out the period with a basket.

The first quarter was pretty evenly played with each team leading four times until Hobday’s basket gave Athens the lead for good with 3:11 remaining in the period.

Brady Landmesser halted the surge to open the second quarter, but Athens countered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Briggs and Hobday, and Briggs added another following a basket by the Tigers’ Jack Bombard, making it a 27-13 contest.

Athens would build a 20-point cushion ar 33-13 on three consecutive buckets from Lucas Schultz. Kam Wheeler connected for a 3-pointer to end the half with the Wildcats holding a 38-15 advantage.

The home team continued its hot streak after intermission, pumping out 23 points in the third period behind eight- and seven-point bursts to take a 61-23 led into the final stanza.Hobday accounted for seven points, including his second trey of the evening, and Grazul and Friend tacked on six points each.

“I keep saying to beat the good teams, you’ve got to get the little things,” Lister said. “I still think we missed too many layups tonight, and I still think we missed too many foul shots, so we’ve got to fix those two things to really be successful against those good teams, but it was a good win for us tonight, good team win.

“Everybody contributed and (I’m) pretty happy with it. We can enjoy it for an hour or two, but we have to take on a really good Candor team tomorrow night, so we're looking forward to that.”

“It's a long season, there's going to be bumps in the road, so hopefully we can put this one behind us and have them play well tomorrow,” said Hutchinson.

The Tigers were without the services of a pair of 6-foot-3 seniors, one being Dominic Palmer, who is averaging 15 points and nine rebounds per game..

“Obviously, that's a big adjustment,” Hutchinson said. “He's a good basketball player. (We) obviously missed him, but it really just came down to execution and little things.”

Briggs led all scorers with 14 points, Hobday and Grazul recorded a dozen points apiece, Schultz had 10 and Friend added eight. Wheeler chipped in with three points, Baglini had two and Aiden Vanderpool tacked on a free throw.

Jack Bombard led Tioga with 10 points, including a pair of consecutive 3-pointers from the top of the key. James Miller added one trey and finished with nine points, and Landmesser and Gavin Kithcart pitched in with six points apiece.

Tioga plays Avoca-Prattsburgh at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday in the consolation game while Athens takes on Candor at 8 p.m. for the title.

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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