Yes Athens coaching staff is back the only new coaches in the TVC are Vinton County and Wellston both Coach Sturgill and Bentley are no longer in charge of those programs both of those coaches were there for a while. It just seems like especially in girls basketball that there is a high turnover rate in coaching I would like to see a coach stay there for a long time I think it builds community pride.
Yes because Athens is just bursting at the seems with talent and just waiting on Bulldog84’s best buddy to take over the program and have everyone in Athens thinking it’s the second coming of the Dom era.
I saw Athens in a scrimmage this past week. They are much improved and the coach looked to me like he did a very good job with the girls and they seemed to want to play for him.
Athens has 6 seniors who have been playing together since the 4th grade: Kesi Federspiel at point guard (all-TVC and all-District last season), defensive specialist Harper Bennett, sharpshooter Bailey Davis, center Haylie Mills, and small forwards Kianna Benton and Annika Benton. Emily Zuber, a junior, will come off the bench to give added height. Athens has a fundamentally good freshman class coming up and many of those girls have seen action in the varsity scrimmages. About 2-3 will see valuable varsity minutes.
They were able to practice and go to shootouts this summer, something which they did not do the previous season. The team should be better than the previous two.
You say it yourself in this post. Several freshman will get valuable minutes. It will be a long season but the girls will get better as season progresses.
Bennett, Davis, Federspiel, and K. Benton can all shoot the 3-ball. If all four can get that needed consistency at the same time they will score some points!
Bennett is one of the top on-ball defenders in the TVC. With her quickness and long arms, she can cover anyone on the floor and always has the unenviable task of guarding the opponent’s best player. Federspiel also has quick hands and quick feet, while Mills does a really good job of sealing the paint.
video streaming was a one time thing for Covid with the attendance limitations. All home games and any games vs other Athens County teams are tape delayed and shown on Nelsonville TV a few days later.
All of their games except this weekends games at Zanesville tipoff will be aired on 970WATH (970am/97.1fm) and online at https://www.wxtq.com/wath/. Athens Messenger will also have recaps which are posted online and printed a few days later.