By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle players and coaches aren’t about to push the panic button after suffering its second straight area loss Friday night, but the margin for error has certainly gotten smaller.
The Tigers shot just 32 percent in the first half of their 62-55 loss to Athens at home.
The loss was the third straight for the Tigers, who fell to 7-4 overall and 0-2 in the area. Athens is now 7-5 and 1-1.
Sam Fleischman scored a game-high 20 points for the Tigers after hitting eight of 17 shots. Rodney Stansberry finished with 12 points.
The Tigers had more offensive rebounds and steals in the loss, as well as committing fewer turnovers in the game. But Athens still was able to leave the Pettey Center with the road area win.
Hartselle struggled early, falling behind 10-0 in the first five minutes of the game. The Tigers didn’t score their first points until Fleischman hit a bucket with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter.
The Tigers managed to climb back into the game with a 7-2 run at the end of the quarter to trim the deficit to five points.
Hartselle had a chance to tie the game late in the first half, but the Tigers missed several opportunities to tie the game.
Athens took advantage of the Hartselle drought and pushed the lead back up to 41-33 at the half.
The Golden Eagles extended the lead to 12 points at 53-41 in the third quarter.
Hartselle never got any closer than six points down the stretch.
Athens shot 81 percent from the field in the second half to hold off Hartselle.
Athens 53, Hartselle 37
Using its height advantage, Athens used a 34-17 rebounding edge to cruise to a 53-37 victory over the Lady Tigers.
Hartselle dropped to 4-5 overall with the loss. The Lady Tigers are 1-1 in area play.
Athens is 11-2 and 2-0.
LaCresha Horton scored 16 points for the Lady Golden Eagles after hitting six of 12 shots from the field.
Elizabeth Schexnayder added 10 points in the win.
Hartselle struggled to find its shooting touch, hitting just 33 percent of its shots from the field in the first half on the way to a 29-20 deficit.
Though the Lady Tigers shot a little better in the second half, Hartselle never could cut into the Athens lead.
Katie Young and Taylor White finished with eight points each in the loss. Alex Holmes added six points.
Young and Holmes added five rebounds each.
Hartselle had just three offensive rebounds in the loss.