Athens fought the good fight in their overtime  matchup against North Penn-Liberty  on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the North Penn-Liberty Mountie by a score of  66-63. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest  defeat the Wildcats have suffered  since January 25th.
| 12/12/24 @ North Penn-Liberty | 3 | 
| 12/13/23 vs North Penn-Liberty | 3 | 
| 12/08/23 vs Newfield | 3 | 
| 01/13/24 @ Mansfield | 2 | 
| 01/05/24 vs Troy | 2 | 
 When it comes to explaining why Athens lost, don't look at  Nick Grazul. Despite the final result, he  posted 23  points and three  steals. That's the most  steals  Grazul has posted since back in December of 2023.  Jase Babcock was another key player,  putting up 19 points and eight  rebounds.
 North Penn-Liberty's win  was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from   Louis Mercantino, who  almost  dropped  a triple-double on 12 points, ten  rebounds,  and nine  steals. Another player making a difference was  Adynn Wheeland, who  had 19 points in addition to six  boards and six  steals.
Athens' loss dropped their record down to 1-1. As for North Penn-Liberty, their record is now 2-3.
 Athens wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next  contest,  a  70-47  defeat against Norwich on the 13th. As for North Penn-Liberty, they will host Towanda  at 6:00  p.m.  on Tuesday. North Penn-Liberty is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.8  points per game  this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps