Valley Sports ReportMANSFIELD — North Penn-Mansfield jumped out to a 10-point first quarter lead en route to a 67-46 win over Athens here Wednesday night in NTL Large School boys basketball action.
"All and all, I was not unhappy with our effort tonight," said Athens coach Jim Lister. "Our kids hustled, but (NP-)Mansfield is a big, strong, physical team and you have to play really well to give yourself an opportunity to win.
"Unfortunately, we turned the ball over 26 times tonight and frankly just did not match their physicality underneath," noted Lister. "We gave them two to three opportunities every time they came down the floor.
"It's tough to win that way," he added.
Senior Troy Rosenbloom and sophomore Lucas Schultz each knocked down 3-pointers in the first quarter, but NP-M's 6-5 Brady Stetter scored nine points, and 6-4 Cooper Shaw added six points to help the Tigers to a 19-9 lead after the first eight minutes.
NP-M outscored Athens 14-10 in the second quarter to up its advantage to 33-19 at the halftime intermission.
Junior Adam Kemp scored nine points, including a 3-pointer, and senior Jase Babcock added four points, but the Tigers outscored the Wildcats, 20-18, to extend its lead to 53-37 heading into the final eight minutes.
Rosenbloom canned two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but NP-M used balanced scoring, and a 4-for-6 effort at the line to nail down the win.
Kemp led Athens with 13 points, while Rosenbloom scored nine points on a trio of 3-pointers, Babcock had seven points, Schultz added six points, and junior Troy Baglini chipped in with four points.
Shaw led NP-M with 18 points and Shaw added 13 points.
Athens, which had its five-game win streak snapped, falls to 8-11, and will host division-leading Troy Friday night.
—————————
IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Adam Kemp. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens junior Nick Grazul. ... PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM.
