Athens High School - Arena Yearbook (Athens, OH)

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Upper left: Two for Bru' (Steve Bruning). Upper right: Senior Mike Croci provided tough offensive rebounding for the Bulldogs this year Lower right: Jim Schanzenbach has his WeHston defender worried 24 Basketball 1981-82 Varsity Scoreboard ATHENS OPPONENT 64 Groveport 55 59 Gallipolis 67 64 Logan 43 76 Marietta 71 74 Wellston 59 57 Belpre 43 81 Meigs 49 Blrw Portsmouth 68 70 Jackson 60 58 % Waverly 55 58 Gallipolis 63 66 Logan 55 72 Wellston 50 72 Miami Trace 32 48 Ironton 56 96 Meigs 54 51 Lancaster 54 76 Jackson 70 69 Ironton 53 72 Waverly 49 SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT 45 Chillicothe 43 DISTRICT TOURNAMENT 59 New Philadelphia 58 50 Wintersville 59

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Girts Tennis 23

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A CONTINUING SUCCESS STORY In what has been a banner season for junior forward Steve Bruning, 1981-82 has also seen AHS basketball climb another notch on the state tournament ladder The team, consisting of 8 seniors and 4 juniors, attained suc- cess by giving their all and bounc- ing back after a few early season losses. A second loss to Callipolis motivated the team to set their goals on the tournament They gained momentum, winning games against Jackson, Ironton and Waverly late in the season to secure their runner-up spot for the league title Winning 8 of their last 10 games, Athens finished with a fine 17-6 record, maintain- ing the tradition of excellent basketball at Athens Coach Fred Gibson attributed Athens' success to unselfish team play, which compensated for in- dividual weaknesses. The team stuck to a basic game pattern which took advantage of the team's strengths and hid their weaknesses Gibson found the team to be easily motivated and their attitudes made it easy for him to coach. The high light of the season was undoubtedly the team's tournament play On the tournament trail the Bulldog cagers took advantage of a hometown crowd at the Con- vocation Center to defeat Chillicothe 45-43 in the sectional final. The win granted Athens a return trip to the District Tourna- ment at Marietta College, where they faced a stubborn New Philadelphia squad The competi- tion proved to be tough but Athens hung in and simply refused to lose This determination led to a berth in the District champion- ship game against an undefeated Wintersville Athens finally fell to Wintersville, but not without giv- ing them all they could handle The 1982 cagers have a lot to be proud of as they are only the fourth team since 1953 to garner District Runner-up honors Individually the Bulldogs claimed several awards Senior point guard Brent Henry served as this year's team captain Senior Mike Croci made the Honorable Mention All- SEOAL team Steve Bruning gained the respect of many op- Eanents by providing excellent adership on the floor and has been honored numerous times On his way to establishing himself as one of the finest players in the state, Steve became the first player in the school's history to score more than 1,000 points in his career as he broke the previous mark of 992 which had been set by Ralph Nu um in 1952 Steve also set the single season record by netting 514 points. In the league Steve was voted Most Valuable Player and named to the 1st team, both for the sec- ond year in a row. He was also honored as the Player of the Year in the Southeastern District At the state level, Steve garnered 3rd team All-Ohio honors Look for- ward to the same type of leader- ship and production from Steve in 1983, as Woody Mayle and he will serve as next year's co-captains. 1981-82 Varsity Basketball and Cheerleaders Bottom row Manager Rob Coe, Kim Crawford, Mary Elis, Kristen Cornelius, lube Ross, Angie finneaity. Shelly Croci, Ann Makom, and Trainer Ed Mizicko. Second row Coach Fred Gibson, Brad Baker, Matt Stenson, Brent Henry, Woody Malye, Sieve Bruning, Pat Hollow, Tom Downey, Mike Croci, Jim Schanzenbach, Kevin Schwarzet, Jim Geiger, Mike Wiliams, Teresa Harden, and Coach Bob Finnearty. Lower right Coach Fred Gibson is the man behind recent basketball success at AHS Basketball 25