Casey Cox was an effective offensive weapon for Nelsonville-York all game long Friday night, slicing between Bulldog defenders to score lay-ups and jumpers inside.
But Cox’s most important points of the night came from the perimeter, where he drilled a 3-pointer with less than five seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 47 apiece heading into overtime.
Austin North led Nelsonville-York with 10 points in the extra period to help extend the Buckeyes’ current winning streak to five games with a 61-54 win against the Bulldogs.
“It’s the biggest shot we’ve had for Nelsonville-York in a long time,” said Buckeye coach Jay Kline. “Whenever you beat an Athens team, you know you’ve accomplished something.”
At halftime, Athens freshman Ryan Luehrman was perfect from the field, with 12 points, and the Bulldogs were winning 27-20.
But it became evident early in the third quarter that Nelsonville-York’s full-court press was disrupting the home team, and Athens saw its lead evaporate quickly as the visitors opened a 12-2 run. The Buckeyes created many more offensive opportunities off of turnovers and sloppy Athens passing.
“This was a difference in styles all the way,” said Kline. “I thought in the first half that they really tried to control the tempo. I thought in the second half that we did a much better job of picking up our defense which allowed us to get moving, running up and down the floor. We exerted our will and our tempo in the second half.”
With Nelsonville’s quick passing in transition, Cox was able to attack the Athens defenders in the paint repeatedly. One of his scoring slaloms came with 2:52 left in the third and gave Nelsonville-York a 32-29 lead. The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter, when a Josh Skinner 3-pointer banked off the glass at the buzzer, giving Athens a five-point lead at 37-32.
As time wound down in the fourth, Athens seemed content to pass around the perimeter on offense. But the Buckeyes made their possessions count, and inconsistency at the free-throw line for Athens also closed the gap.
Finally, Buckeyes’ sixth man Marc Carter tied the game at 42 with just more than three minutes to play on a 3-pointer, and with one minute to go, the Buckeyes trailed by only a point.
Athens freshman Joe Burrow and Skinner both went to the line in the final minute, but were only able to give the Bulldogs one point each time. Following a Skinner miss on the back end of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds left, Nelsonville-York called time-out to set up a play.
On the final play of regulation, Buckeye senior Daniel Kline dribbled right on the perimeter. Cox, moving toward center court, took the handoff from Kline, and nailed a 3-pointer from deep. Regulation ended before Athens inbounded the ball, and momentum swung clearly in Nelsonville-York’s favor.
“He just made a great shot. We had our two best defenders right in his face but he just made a great shot,” said Athens head coach Jeff Skinner.
In overtime, Nelsonville routinely visited the foul line, while Athens struggled to get off good shots.
“Once they got the lead in overtime and we had to chase and foul, that’s when we got behind the eight ball. And then their defense got a little bit better, and they didn’t really miss any free throws either” Skinner said.
“I’m very happy with this team, but I’m very disappointed that we didn’t close it out when we had the chance. We took some bad shots in the last minute when we didn’t have to shoot at all, but again, it’s experience.”
With the win, Nelsonville (7-3) jumps to second in the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division standings, behind undefeated Vinton County, victors against the Buckeyes on Dec. 13th. Athens, at 5-4, is now tied for third with Wellston. The loss is Athens’ first at home this season.
Both teams play next at home on Tuesday, with Logan and Alexander visiting Athens and Nelsonville-York, respectively.
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