Valley Sports ReportATHENS — Athens jumped out to an early double-digit lead, and pulled away for a 66-40 win over Wyalusing to snap a six-game losing skid here Tuesday night in NTL Large School boys basketball action.
"I was pleased how we played tonight," said Athens coach Jim Lister. "Defensively, we played well, only giving up 13 points in the first half.
"Offensively, we played good team basketball, moved the ball well tonight and most importantly took good shots and buried them," he noted.
"We need to feed off this win and continue to do the things we did tonight to be successful," Lister added.
Senior Jase Babcock canned a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, while junior Nick Grazul scored five points, including a 3-pointer, and senior Peter Jones added four points to fuel the Wildcats' 17-6 blitz in the opening stanza.
Babcock and junior James Friend scored four points apiece in the second quarter as Athens stretched its lead to 29-13 at the half with a 12-7 spurt.
Friend scored seven points in the third quarter, while Babcock had five points, and Grazul added a 3-pointer. Athens outscored the Rams, 16-15, in the third quarter to extend its lead to 45-28 entering the final eight minutes.
Babcock scored seven more points in the fourth quarter, including his fourth 3-pointer of the game, while Eli Hobday connected twice from behind the arc, and junior Talon Baglini added four points in a game-closing 21-12 run.
Babcock led the Wildcats with 22 points, while Friend scored 11, Grazul had 10 points, Hobday scored six points, Jones added five points, and senior Troy Rosenbloom and Baglini chipped in with four points apiece.
Hunter House led Wyalusing with nine points on a trio of 3-pointers.
Athens, now 3-9, host Wellsboro Thursday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Adam Kemp. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens senior Peter Jones. ... PHOTOS BY ROWAN MORALES.
