As high-school basketball teams crawl deeper into the heart of rhw season, local girls teams are having mixed success.
The Athens Bulldogs are tied for second in the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division with a 2-1 league record. They are 6-5 overall, with four of their losses by five points or less.
The Bulldogs have played some tough competition as well, competing in a holiday tournament in Florida. There, the Bulldogs finished fourth of eight teams, losing to the eventual champions at the buzzer and dropping the third-place game by three points.
Leading Athens is its four senior captains: Elena Lein, Gracie Staten, Katie McCollum and Eliza Christensen.
Other major contributors for the Bulldogs include senior Tiffany James, junior Emma Stanley, sophomore Elyse Lutz, and freshmen Dominique Doseck and Olivia Harris.
Coach Wayne Horsley attributed much of the team’s early success to its veteran players.
“Our seniors are the leaders of our team. Eliza, Gracie and Elena are all 4-year varsity players. Elena Lein is closing in on 400 career blocked shots, and Dominique Doseck is an outstanding freshman point guard that runs our team on the floor,” Horsley said. “Our girls get along very well and play well together.”
Nelsonville-York holds a better overall record at 8-3 but is 1-2 in the TVC, putting them fourth in the standings. Still, the Buckeyes are very much in contention for the league title, though they trail Athens, Wellston and Vinton County.
Vinton County is 4-5 but holds a 3-0 league record, including a 54-49 victory against Athens at home Dec. 8. Wellston has the best record of any TVC-Ohio team at 6-1 but fell on the road against Vinton County by a score of 67-53, leaving the Golden Rockets at 2-1 in the league.
After three years of dominance, Alexander finds itself struggling to rebuild after losing its entire starting five from last year’s team. The Spartans, who hadn’t lost a TVC-Ohio game for three years before this season, find themselves at 0-10, 0-3 in the league.
Rounding out the league is Meigs at 2-8, 1-2 in the TVC.
Athens has a back-to-back home game against Wellston Jan. 12 and Vinton County Jan. 19. Both could go a long way in deciding the league title.
as506610@ohiou.edu
