By CAITLIN McCLARE
This weekend, each player of the week matched up with another one in their respective winter tournament finals. This weekend, each of them turned heads no matter the result of the game.
Hilton’s TahJae Hill nailed a buzzer-beater to beat Tony Arnold and his Eastridge Lancers. The “Tahj versus Tony” game lived up to the hype on both ends. Sam Velletri steadied his Brockport squad to overcome Griffin Stella‘s 27-point game for Churchville-Chili.
The quartet’s tournament performances on Friday, December 27 and Saturday, December 28 landed them back on the Monroe County’s Player of the Week list as decided by Monroe County coaches.
Hill started off his home tournament on Friday with 15 points and 11 rebounds in a 78-41 win against Eugenio Maria. He reached a double-double while playing only 12 minutes. With the win, Hilton moved on to play Eastridge in the Hilton Hall of Fame Tournament final. READ MORE. The senior drilled the buzzer-beater in overtime to win the game and the tournament. To get there, he led his squad with 48 points, including all of the overtime points and game-tying shot. He connected on 19 of his 33 attempts from the field, pulled 11 rebounds, and grabbed three steals to earn Monroe County Division I Player of the Week (POTW).
Stella put up double figures both nights in the Doug Westcott Tournament to earn Division II POTW. On Friday, he finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks in Churchville-Chili’s win over Spencerport. Stella led with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks in the tournament final loss to Brockport. He poured in 18 points in second half to keep the game tight until the final buzzer. At the line, he connected on five of his six attempts.
Velletri totaled 31 points, 14 rebounds, ten assists, and four steals in the Doug Wescott Tournament to grab DIII honors. Against Brighton in the first round, the senior scored 15 points, seven in the third period, to help Brockport move on. He defeated Stella and the Saints 72-71 in the finals, where he finished with 16 points. 12 of his 16 points were at the line.
VIEW MORE JODI ZUROWSKI PHOTOS HERE.
Arnold drained 48 points in Eastridge’s 91-64 win over Greece Athena in round one of the Hilton Hall of Fame Tournament. He reached his season high with 20 shots from within the arc and five from the line. He scored 14 in the first period and 14 in the second. In the finals, the senior guard totaled 26 points against Hill and the Hilton Cadets. He scored ten in the fourth quarter and two in overtime and earned Division IV POTW.
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