OXFORD — After suffering back to back losses to Danville and Lafayette Central Catholic the Crawfordsville Athenians were once again back on the road, this time to take on the Benton Central Bison. At halftime the Bison and the Athenians were all even at 29 apiece, but a 14-point 3rd quarter from senior Jesse Hall propelled the Athenians to a comfortable 74-59 win.
Hall led all scorers in the game with 29 points and went a perfect 13-of-13 from the field in the win. Despite his perfect night, Hall wasn’t about to be the center of attention as he just happy he helped his team get back in the win column.
“I knew we weren’t playing our best basketball in the first half,” Hall said. “I figured if I started to assert myself a little more in the second half then that would get guys going. Whatever helped the team get the win and helps get us rolling, that’s what I’m willing to do. I didn’t want us to have another night of not playing our best basketball because we need to be at our best at this point in the season.”
Along with Hall’s game-high 29, Ty Lynas added in 17 for the Athenians. Nate Schroeter also ended in double figures with 11. Connor Hall led the Bison with 17 with Cael Williams scoring 15.
Coach David Pierce credited his team for playing more team-centric basketball in the second half which allowed the Athenians to score 46 points in the final two quarters.
“I felt like we were playing too much as individuals in the first half,” Pierce said. “We were taking tough shots and weren’t passing the ball around very much. BC really didn’t have to exert much effort on defense because of that. Playing the way we did in that second half created so many positive things for us and it caused them to work harder guarding us. Guys like Nate, Z (Ziair Morgan), and Cale Coursey gave us real good minutes when we needed them to tonight.”
As his senior season is starting to wind down, both Hall and Pierce know that he will be the force the drives the Athenians. Hall only took one three the entire game and used his 6-foot-8 frame to get to the basket for easy lay-ups.
“If Jesse didn’t assert himself like he did, I don’t think the outcome would’ve been in our favor,” Pierce said. “That’s exactly the type of play you want out of a senior and a out of a guy whose played varsity for three and a half years. He was super calm throughout the game and led us very well and on top of that he took over the game. He made sure that he was going to be the best player in the gym tonight.”
Crawfordsville will conclude the regular season on Friday as they play host to Park Tudor. The Athenians were originally scheduled to play Covington but were able to find the Panthers as a replacement opponent.
