A hard-fought season came to a hard-fought end when Nelsonville-York was eliminated from the Ohio Division III District Basketball Tournament, losing to Lucasville Valley 61-40.
The Buckeyes weren’t able to respond to the Indians’ size and strength down low. That was all the edge that Lucasville Valley needed to pull out the victory.
“They are thick, they are long and they are big,” Nelsonville-York coach Jay Kline said. “And for the course of the game, they got us too many times down there, and my hats off to them. I hope they do well the rest of the tournament.”
Senior forward Daniel Kline led all Buckeye scorers with 14 points, but his career ended Monday night after years of playing the game.
“I’ve come a long way,” Daniel Kline said. “I played on varsity as a freshman and I kind of grew a bit as I became a junior (and) senior, and it’s been a fun ride.”
Nelsonville-York started the game slowly and only scored six points in the first quarter. The Buckeyes managed only 10 more in the second quarter.
They were also slow to get their shots off. Lucasville Valley swatted many of Nelsonville-York’s shots, making for a long night and a low field-goal percentage.
“We played hard. They just played better defense than us, made more shots and just played a better game,” Daniel Kline said.
Even with the loss, the Buckeyes said they feel they still sent their senior class out with accomplishments to be proud of and careers they can look back on with a smile.
“We had a great season,” Jay Kline said. “We got back to our winning ways, we were on the right side of the ledger as far as wins go. We got to cut down nets.”
With Nelsonville-York’s loss, no Athens-area teams remain in the state playoffs.
pm312207@ohiou.edu
