Athens boys stopped in regionals

Bluejays can’t get past deep Marathon squad

One of the most remarkable and successful seasons of Bluejays boys basketball came to an abrupt and premature end in Athens on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Athens squared off with the Marathon Red Raiders in a showdown between Marawood squads, a spot in the regional final on the line.

Marathon suffered a serious blow to their postseason hopes when senior Brock Warren learned he would be out for the remainder of the season, and with the loss of the senior enforcer down low, the ‘Jays seemed to be in perfect position to add more hardware to the trophy case.

Not so fast, said the Red Raiders.

Despite losing Warren, one thing the Red Raiders did have was depth. The Red Raiders fielded multiple offensive threats, and that balance resulted in four different players scoring in double digits.

Even so, the ‘Jays held an early 30-28 advantage after one half of play. Cooper Diedrich was a big part of that early success, and the swift junior had a huge game, pumping in 30 points, including four triples, as he led all players.

Kody Lepak was there with Diedrich in double figures, dropping 13 on Marathon, and his shooters touch was on display as Lepak went four of six from Down Town.

The Red Raiders responded with Matt Vande Boom and Mike Hahn, who scored 26 and 17 points. Jaden Koeller and Jaeden Strasser were instrumental in the victory, as each contributed ten points.

Athens limited Marathon’s threes, with the Red Raiders converting just four of 16 attempts, but Marathon didn’t need to rely on the three point shot to do the damage, preferring to attack and draw contact and get to the charity stripe.

Marathon was incredibly efficient at that. As a team the Red Raiders finished over 80 percent, converting 21 of 26 attempts. Vande Boom was 10 of 12 on free throws. It was all part of Marathon head coach Adam Jacobson’s master plan.

“I thought we really came in with a lot of energy,” Jacobson said. “We were really into what we wanted to do, kept everything in front of us, and made things difficult. Offensively, we were really able to attack the zone from the inside out and got very high quality looks.”

Marathon’s defense was a big part of the win. The Red Raiders held Aiden Janke and Dayne Diethelm to under their season average, with just eight and seven points, and the Red Raiders outscored the ‘Jays 47-32 in the second half for a 75-62 victory, and a date with Edgar in the regional championship the following night.