Nelsonville-York ended its regular season by splitting two games this weekend against Athens County and conference rivals Alexander and Athens.
The Buckeyes dominated Alexander on Friday night, and won 57-38, before returning to Ben Wagner Gymnasium and dropping a physical contest to the visiting Bulldogs Saturday night.
The results leave Nelsonville-York at 12-8 overall, and tied for third place in the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio division at 5-5.
\Friday, the Buckeyes were led by senior forward Daniel Kline, who finished with a game-high 13 points. Kline also added two emphatic dunks — one off an alley-oop pass from teammate Austin North — as Nelsonville-York pulled away early.
The Nelsonville-York win avenged the Spartans’ win in Nelsonville back on Jan. 10. Alexander won 60-44, one of its two TVC-Ohio wins all season.
“Coming to win at Alexander is a great win anytime, and yeah we got a little redemption there,” Nelsonville-York coach Jay Kline said. “There’s certain things I’m not happy about but I thought overall we played a nice game, particularly defensively.”
If Friday’s game was chippy, then Saturday’s match-up was an all-out brawl. Physical play from Athens and Nelsonville-York contributed to three technical fouls and four players fouling out.
A warm pre-game Senior Night ceremony for the Buckeyes’ Casey Cox, Taylor Davis, Austin Griffin, Kline, Isaiah Mello, and Kyle Moore, was quickly replaced after tip-off with a smash-mouth rematch between the two rival schools.
Nelsonville-York beat Athens 61-54 on Jan. 6 in an overtime thriller. The Buckeyes trailed the whole game before a fourth quarter run, where a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Cox sent the game into an extra period.
After a lot of back-and-forth, Nelsonville-York took a 27-21 lead into the break.
“They did a good job of that tempo-controlling zone, and we never really did get out and run very well all night long,” Kline said. “The few times maybe we did, good things happened for us, but I think as far as battles of will and battle of tempos I think they won that one.”
The home team started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, and claimed a 40-38 lead. It was then that Athens’ Kramer Simmons and Joey Burrow took over, combining for thirteen points throughout the game’s final five minutes.
Simmons drove to the basket, picking up a foul and completing the three-point play. After North split two shots for the Buckeyes, Burrow and Simmons dropped three-pointers on the Bulldogs’ next two possessions, giving Athens a 47-41 lead with 1:51 to play.
The Bulldogs never trailed again, finishing with a 56-44 victory.
“We made some big shots down the stretch and different people made them,” Athens coach Jeff Skinner said. “Simmons made a big bucket, and got our enthusiasm going again and from there we just kind of pulled away.
“It’s a typical rivalry game.”
QUICKSTATS:
-Turnovers: N-Y 17, Athens 15.
-Athens’ Kramer Simmons & Joey Burrow, 14 points each.
-ªAthens: 18-4 run to end the game.
nc606411@ohiou.edu
