BOYS BASKETBALL: Athens holds off Mott for first district title since 2000

BY JAKE LOURIM

STUDENT CORRESPONDENT

j.lourim@comcast.net

TROY — Troy Athens didn’t celebrate after baskets during a third quarter in which they outscored Waterford Mott 24-8.

Good thing, too. It turned out the Red Hawks needed every single one of them.

Athens took a commanding lead in the third quarter and held off a furious Waterford Mott rally in the fourth to earn its first Class A district title since 2000 with a 69-64 triumph at Troy High School.

After leading 28-24 at halftime, the Red Hawks (6-16) came out of the locker room with smooth ball movement and strong finishes, going up 45-29 on a fast-break layup by Ethan Badertscher with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

Then, Mott called a time-out and turned up the full-court pressure, and Athens held on for dear life.

“We told them to try and settle down,” Athens coach Dave Scott said. “We told them the clock was our enemy, and they were going to have to make some free throws down the stretch to secure the win for us. The credit goes to those kids.”

The comeback started with Mott junior Billy McDonald’s 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Backed by a rowdy crowd throughout the fourth quarter, Mott hurriedly pushed the ball up the floor and continued to chip away at the deficit.

“We just told them to pick it up, go for steals,” Mott coach Jeff Jayson said. “We had nothing to lose — we were down by 20 points. We just told them to get after (Athens).”

“We’ve been in that position before,” senior point guard Khalil Malone said. “Being down by 20, we know what to do. It was a race against the clock. I told my guys, with four minutes left, we can still come back and do it.”

Justice Bolling hit his first triple in seven tries with 4:28 left, and Malone added a driving layup plus a foul with 3:16 to go for Mott (15-8).

When Malone missed the free throw, senior big man Quincy Norman tipped the rebound back out to him and Malone knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the lead to nine.

“He’s a four-year varsity player, three-year starter,” Jayson said. “He’s been in this situation — he’s experienced it all. He’s a heck of a player, and it’s sad to see his career end like this.”

The tempo remained frantic and Mott ended up with 18 team fouls in its relentless full- court pressure. But Athens kept its composure, as its roster loaded with freshman and sophomores refused to crumble under the pressure.

“They were trying to double-team us off the back,” Williams said. “So we set screens and rolled off them to go get the ball from the big man (inbounds passer John Van Hoef).”

The Red Hawks turned the ball over four times in the first half and 11 in the second half, but also forced Mott to commit fouls. Athens converted 19-of-28 free-throw attempts in the second half, including six of eight by junior point guard Mike Williams and 5-of-6 by 6-foot-9 senior center Jeff Koch.

Malone hit two free throws to cut the deficit to three with 1:04 left, then committed his fourth foul with 47.7 seconds to go. He then made two of three free throws with 24.6 seconds remaining, and three seconds later committed his fifth foul.

Mott senior guard Jujuan Mourad traveled with four seconds left on Mott’s last chance, making the Corsairs pressure relentlessly to regain possession.

“We just had to scramble,” Malone said. “I’m very happy that my team did not give up.”

They denied Athens guards Devin Terry and Williams, but Koch came up, called for the ball, caught the inbounds pass and made both free throws to ice the win.

“We’ve had a rough season,” Koch said. “I put all my anger into those free throws.”

“(Those are) big-time guys making some big-time free throws,” Scott said. “This place was rocking.”

Although Mott battled back from down 20, Jayson wasn’t satisfied with a close loss.

“I’m very disappointed in their effort,” Jayson said. “We shouldn’t have been down by that many. The game was undisciplined.”

Van Hoef led Athens with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Malone scored a game-high 23 points and Norman added 12 points and 14 boards for Mott.

Koch added seven points for Athens in the second half, after committing his second foul just 1:11 into the game and his third with 1:30 to go in the first half.

“It was pretty tough,” Koch said. “I wanted to come out aggressive, because I was so hyped for the game.”

In the end, in Koch’s senior season — his third district tournament on varsity—the reward was worth the anger.

“It’s wonderful,” Koch said. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”

(Jake Lourim is a senior at Troy High School and a member of the S.H.P. Media Group / www.northoaklandsports.com Student Correspondence Program. He is publisher of website www.troycoltsportsupdate.com and a member of the Troy school newspaper editorial staff. He can be reached by e-mail at j.lourim@comcast.net)

Tags: Basketball, boys basketball, high school boys basketball, MHSAA Boys Basketball Class A Districts, prep boys basketball, Troy Athens Boys Basketball, Waterford Mott Boys Basketball

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