Alexander (4-11)
Life on the road has been tough for the Spartans. Losing every contest on their four-game trip has ended any hope of Alexander’s chances of postseason play.
After starting the New Year 2-1, the Spartans have lost their last four games. Due to a scheduling conflict earlier in the season, all four games came within the span of seven days, making it tough on an already young Alexander squad.
“Our spirits are up, we keep working hard and you know that’s all we can do,” Alexander coach Blaine Gabriel said. “We said earlier in the year that we were pretty inexperienced and that’s kind of shown in the last couple games.”
One thing that might rally the Spartans’ spirits is a win against rival Athens. The Bulldogs travel to Albany to take on Alexander Friday and a victory could give the Spartans a much-needed shot of confidence.
“We want to make sure we finish out on a good note and if we could upset Athens here Friday night, that’d be a nice little thing to do here, especially for my seniors,” Gabriel said.
— Paul Meara
pm312207@ohiou.edu
Nelsonville-York (10-5)
Three teams in the Tri-Valley Conference’s Ohio division still have realistic title hopes, and with four conference games remaining, there is little room for error.
At 8-6 overall and 5-1 in the TVC, Vinton County leads the pack. After handing the Vikings their lone conference loss last weekend, Athens now sits just one game behind the Vikings in a tie with Nelsonville-York.
The Buckeyes earned their 10th win, doubling their total from 2010-11, Tuesday in a close game against Crooksville.
The Buckeyes won 71-65, but were challenged down the stretch as the Ceramics heated up late in the fourth quarter. Fortunately for Nelsonville-York coach Jay Kline, the Buckeyes brought their A-game to the free-throw line, hitting 25 of 32 on the night.
“We’ve been getting better each week and this was the best free throw shooting that we’ve had all year long,” Kline said.
Another key to the Buckeyes’ success Tuesday was the play of junior guard Jacob Blake, who produced a series of rebounds and inside shots against the much larger Crooksville frontcourt.
“He’s our little big man … he’s always going to get in there and mix it up for us,” Kline said.
Nelsonville-York returns to conference play Friday with a road game against Wellston.
— 
Nathan Cotton
nc606411@ohiou.edu
Athens (7-7)
As Athens enters its second matchup against Alexander in consecutive weeks, the Bulldogs find themselves a game behind Vinton County for the TVC-Ohio division lead.
But those standings don’t concern Athens coach Jeff Skinner and the Bulldogs (7-7, 5-2). They are keeping their horse blinders on and ignoring the results of other league games.
“We’re not even thinking of the league championship right now,” Skinner said. “We’re just trying to get better and play games one game at a time. We can’t even worry about that stuff right now.”
Whether they want to acknowledge it or not, the Bulldogs have been playing better basketball of late. After a five-game losing streak, Athens has put together consecutive wins against Alexander and Vinton County. Skinner said a big reason for the recent success can be attributed to senior leadership.
“We start two freshmen and have a load of inexperience,” he said. “But our seniors are really starting to come through for us and you always win with seniors.”
Senior Josh Skinner has averaged 12 points per game during the small winning streak, and clutch contributions from fellow seniors Nick Stanley and Josh Maxson have helped reassert the Bulldogs into the TVC-Ohio title hunt.
— Christian Hoppens
ch203310@ohiou.edu
