Valley Sports ReportATHENS — Athens overcame an early double-digit deficit, but Wellsboro used a big fourth quarter to pull out a 57-44 win here Thursday night in NTL Large School boys basketball action.
Wellsboro jumped out to a 13-4 lead after the first eight minutes, and led 20-8 early in the second quarter.
"We need to be ready to go from the tip," said Athens coach Jim Lister. "It’s tough to win games against good teams when you only score four points in the first quarter and you’re always playing from behind.
"We have had this problem of putting the ball in the basket all season long.
"The kids always play hard though, and they did come back tonight for the first time all season," noted Lister. "We took the lead in the third quarter after being down 12 points.
"For that I am proud of them, but now they need to learn how to not let the moment get to big for them, take control of it and finish," added Lister. "We will go back to work tomorrow and keep working at it."
Eight different Wildcats scored in the second quarter, including sophomore Lucas Schultz and junior Adam Kemp, who knocked down 3-pointers, and outscored Wellsboro, 16-14, to close the gap to 27-20 at the half.
Jase Babcock canned a pair of 3-pointers, and scored eight points in the third quarter, and senior Troy Rosenbloom connected from behind the arc. Athens pulled ahead late in the third quarter, but Wellsboro closed the quarter with a mini-run to take a 40-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Hornets put the game away with a 17-7 run in the final eight minutes.
Babcock led Athens with 13 points, while Schultz scored seven points, senior Peter Jones had six points, Kemp added five points, and junior Nick Grazul chipped in with four points.
Luke Rothermel led Wellsboro with a game-high 25 points and Colin Fletcher added 15 points.
Athens, now 3-10, returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Canton.
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PHOTOS BY NICK COYLE.
