Tigers fall short versus Athens, 68-63

Submitted by Willspoint1 on
By David Kapitan, Staff Writer

By virtue of their fourth place finish in District 14-4A play, the Wills Point Tigers were dealt a tough hand in the bi-district round with a game against District 13-4A champion Athens.

Wills Point gave Athens everything it could have wanted and more, nearly upending the higher ranked seed in what would eventually become a 68-63 Hornet win.

Offense ruled the day in the first quarter, with Caden Petrey and Tanner Wallace scoring a combined 14 points to keep Wills Point within striking distance of Athens, 26-21.

Doug Sheldon exploded for 12 points in the second quarter as the Tigers outscored Athens 16-13 to trail 39-37 entering the half.

Scrappy play by both teams kept the margin razor thin between both teams throughout the third quarter, with the Hornets eventually taking a slim 55-53 lead over Wills Point.

Despite a game effort, Wills Point couldn’t narrow the gap any further down the stretch as Athens outscored the Tigers 13-10 in the final frame to secure the 68-63 win.

In the final game of the 2015-’16 season for the Tigers, junior post Doug Sheldon led all scorers in the contest with 21 points. Other players scoring points for Wills Point included Tanner Wallace with 11, Caden Petrey with 10, Tyler James with 8, Robert Smith with 7 and Matt Mayfield with 6.

The win advanced the Hornets to the Area round for a game against Paris North Lamar.