Each game, Athens is forced to rely on the play of Griffin Lutz.
While Lutz still had a solid game in the Bulldogs 75-63 win over Meigs on Tuesday night, the story was about the play of Dalton Cozart and Robert Dickelman.
Lutz got into foul trouble in the third quarter, and the game was tied late. Usually, that would spell trouble for the Bulldogs, lacking their best player on the court.
But, the play of the supporting players, especially Cozart and Dickelman, eased coach Mickey Cozart’s mind.
“Our guys responded well when (Meigs) made some runs,” Mickey said. “We got it back under control.”
Dalton made four 3-pointers, and they all seemed to come when the Bulldogs needed a basket the most.
“He just played super confident,” Mickey, Dalton's dad, said.
When Meigs made another run at the end of the game, Athens responded with a 16-3 run to end the game.
Dickelman was the spark of that late run to close out the game.
Whether it was him scoring or passing to an open teammate, Dickelman played some of his best basketball of the season.
“He didn’t play very well in the first half, and he sat a lot,” Mickey said. “When he got his opportunity to go out there he made a lot of good things happen for us.”
The win put the Bulldogs into second place in the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio division.
After going through a small slump, Athens has regained some confidence going into the end of its season.
“Well, we needed it,” Mickey said.
