Athens is finally finding its stride

By Casey Krautkramer

I’m sure that some Athens boys basketball fans saw that Auburndale had only one loss this season and figured the Bluejays’ road game on Thursday would be a blowout loss. Not so fast. The Athens varsity boys basketball team continues to steadily improve this season and the Bluejays hung close to the Marawood South Conference leading Auburndale Eagles during the game. Athens was only down by four points, 23-19, at halftime against Auburndale which is ranked No. 9 in this week’s wissports.net Division 4 coaches poll.

Athens junior point guard Riley Schultz-Becker, who is the team’s leading scorer this season, did his normal great job of making things happen on the court by either swishing three pointers or stealing the basketball and converting a layup. He led the Bluejays with 17 points, eight rebounds and six steals in the team’s 52-39 loss to Auburndale.

Bluejays senior center Brayden Frahmann guarded Auburndale senior guard Blake Raab, who is the team’s leading scorers and one of the best players in the conference, at the beginning of Thursday’s game before getting tired of chasing the quicker Raab around the court. Junior Eli Paul took over guarding Raab tightly to try and prevent him from either receiving the ball or contesting his shot.

Frahmann was aggressive driving the ball to the basket against Auburndale. He finished the game with 11 points. Junior Kam Zarnke contributed nine points and five rebounds. Sophomore Dax Diethelm led the Bluejays with three assists and Schultz-Becker had two.

Athens endured an early to mid-season slump this season but it appears the Bluejays have awoken from their slumber. The Bluejays have won three of their last five See BLUEJAY HOOPS/ page 15

BLUEJAYS BIG MAN HAS RANGE - Athens senior center Brayden Frahmann isn’t afraid to pull up for a mid-range jumper as he did here against Auburndale on Thursday.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

STICKING TO THE OPPONENT’S BEST PLAYER - Athens junior basketball player Eli Paul’s (14) job was to frustrate Auburndale’s best player, senior guard Blake Raab (5), by sticking to him at all time to contest his shots. Bluejays junior Kam Zarnke (1) is in the background.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

STEAL AND LAYUP - Athens junior Riley Schultz-Becker corrals the steal against Auburndale and then is Michael Jordan-esque as he glides down the lane for a layup.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Bluejay hoops

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games. Athens head varsity boys basketball coach Jeramie Penney said his team played with “effort” against Auburndale.

“We disguised our man defense with a box-in-one but it was a man defense the whole time and our kids responded well,” he said. “I’ve been begging them to play man defense like that all year.”

The team’s home game against Pittsville on Tuesday was postponed because of the frigid weather. Penney explained what needs to happen for his team to keep winning games to finish the regular season strong going into the Division 5 playoffs.

“We need to keep them motived to play defense because defense wins games,” he said. “We are not a great shooting team, so we need to play strong defense to help us win.”

Athens currently has a 6-15 overall record this season while Auburndale is 20-1.

‘Jay girls fall to tough teams

The Athens varsity girls basketball squad lost to Auburndale, 47-33, on the road Friday. Itzel Espinoza-Quiroz led the Bluejays with nine points. Athens is playing without starting senior Danica Diethelm who is out for the rest of the season with an injury. Athens also lost to Pittsville, 55-13, on Monday at home. Vanessa Espinoza-Quiroz led the team with six points. Athens has a 2-19 overall record this season.

DAX WITH A TOUGH DRIVE TO THE BASKET - Athens sophomore Dax Diethelm drives the basketball right at Auburndale senior center Thomas Aue during Thursday’s road loss to the Eagles.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER