Pickin' Splinters

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Greece Athena defeats Wilson to win second straight

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DeAndre Newsome had seven points, five assists and three steals. (PHOTO: JOHN LIKANJE)

By JOHN LIKANJE

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Jake Cerone knocked down five three-pointers in the third quarter as Greece Athena took down Wilson Magnet, 62-50, to win its second straight game.

Cerone netted two of his long-range shots during a 19-2 run spanning the second and third quarters as the Trojans surged to a commanding 43-23 advantage.

“We’ve been playing together,” the senior guard said. “We got off to a rough start, but now we’re moving the ball better and we’re locking down on defense. We got a couple on our belt now.”

“The biggest adjustment we’ve made as far as the lineup goes is we decided to go 10 deep,” Greece Athena head coach Michael Setzer explained. “With two five-man rotations. What we do when we practice this way is simply we see who’s hot and who’s playing hard.”

Tre Jackson, James Reaves, Jr. and Terrell Wilson, Jr. made a layup apiece to give the Trojans a 30-21 lead going into the locker room.

“While the first five in the third quarter really went on a great run, the second five actually gave us a really good spark in the first and second quarter,” Setzer explained. “They really amped up their pressure and did a great job defensively.”

Austin Brown and Kenny Freeman each connected on a pair of free throws. After Cerone netted his second long-range shot, Freeman capped off the run with a three-point play.

“We got a lot of steals and we turned them into points. We got open threes and open looks,” Cerone explained as the Trojans forced seven turnovers and five missed field goals during the run. “We had to take away the middle.”

“We went back to the starters in the third and they carried us,” Setzer acknowledged. “They had just a wonderful third quarter, especially with Jake hitting those three-pointers.”

Cerone made the Trojans’ last three field goals of the third quarter – all of which were bombs from the right corner. For the game, the senior guard scored a game-high 17 points and swiped two steals.

“My teammates just kept feeding me the ball and I was hot,” Cerone said. “Had the hot hand. Just kept knocking them down.”

“Our offense is really just spread out,” Setzer explained. “We kind of pulled the post for the most part. Had five guys on the perimeter. The kids had been instructed to catch, attack and kick. We kept getting basically the same thing. Strong side, Jake in the corner.”

Freeman knocked down 5-of-5 free throws as part of his 11 points. The sophomore forward grabbed seven boards, swatted six shots and had a pair of steals. DeAndre Newsome added seven points, five assists and three steals.

“A point guard like D-Man is tough to play one-on-one,” Setzer stated. “So he was drawing a defender to him and that happened to be Jake’s defender and we were able to kick it to Jake for threes.”

Jackson (6), Tyler Curtis (5), Brown (4), Jahon Jones (4) and Reaves, Jr. (4) rounded out the scoring for the Trojans.

For Wilson Magnet, Zavarius Henry scored all 12 of his team-high points after the opening period. Rashi Smith-James netted 10 in the first half.

Latief Holmes (8), Derrick Simmons (7), Darius Turner (6), Harlem Campbell (3), Daykwon Harris (2) and Marquise Hodrick (2) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats.

Greece Athena takes on crosstown rival Greece Odyssey Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m. Wilson Magnet hosts East Thursday evening at 6:15 p.m.

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