Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Odyssey uses big fourth quarter to beat Olympia

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By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jakari Canady and Kingston Santiago hit 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor as Greece Odyssey boys’ basketball pulled away from a one-possession game and went on to beat host Greece Olympia, 84-71 in Monroe County Division IV action, Friday night.

Leading 56-54 early in the fourth quarter, Canady and Santiago both connected from the left wing to spark an 11-4 Odyssey run.

“We’ve been working on running the court, playing hard, playing unselfish and trusting each other,” said Odyssey head coach Gamal Gilchrist. “That’s really what it came down to, trusting each other.”

Gavin Williams followed with one of his two fourth-quarter buckets before Santiago converted 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Elijah Burgio added a pair of free throws and the Odyssey lead had grown to nine at 67-58.

The Leopards did not allow Olympia to make it a single-possession game for the remainder of the contest.

“We stayed disciplined,” Gilchrist said. “We made them take contested threes and contested shots. If you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to make contested shots.”

Michael Cathey made it a double-digit lead at 74-64 with a pair of free throws as part of a 13-0 Odyssey run. A stretch in which all five players on the court contributed to the scoring.

“We have some of the better guards in Section V right now as far as guys that have been with me and guys that know the system,” Gilchrist said. “I’m letting them be free. It’s structure, but more of a chaotic structure. It’s not so much plays. It’s a matter of this is action, what do we do out of this action. It’s read and react. Let’s play basketball.”

Olympia (2-1) used a 7-0 run that started late in the third quarter and ended with a Connor Welker basket off an inbound to make it two-point game after the first possession of the fourth quarter.

The Spartans, though, were only able to score on two of their next seven trips down the floor when Odyssey (2-1) was able to get separation.

“We competed extremely hard,” said Olympia head coach Joe Tisa. “We just couldn’t get anything going. We’re a team that has dominated up and down the floor in transition so far this year. Odyssey slowed us down tonight. Hats off to them.”

Santiago led three in double figures with 24 points. Cathey finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Williams also had 15 points in the win.

Coming off a 43-point performance earlier in the week, Olympia’s Caiden Evans led the Spartans with 24 points.

The same two teams are scheduled for a rematch on January 24th when they will meet a half-mile east on Maiden Lane at Greece Odyssey.

GREECE ODYSSEY
Jakari Canady 2 2-4 8, Jayson Figueroa 4 0-0 9, Kingston Santiago 8 5-10 24, Michael Cathey 5 5-8 19, Elijah Burgio 2 5-6 9, Phoenix Decker 1 0-0 3, Gavin Williams 5 4-6 15, Anthony Johnson 0 1-4 1 TOTALS 27 22-38 — 84

GREECE OLYMPIA
Caiden Evans 9 3-8 24, Bran’Dale Lester 2 0-3 4, Ezequiel Ofarril 1 1-1 3, Kahleil Pritchett 1 0-0 2, Fred Schichler 1 0-0 2, Willie Hopson 4 0-0 8, Curtis Welker 3 0-1 6, Arnold Tossah 1 0-0 2, Terry Griffin Jr. 7 1-2 15, Connor Welker 2 0-0 5 TOTALS 31 5-15 — 71

GREECE ODYSSEY 24 11 21 28 — 84
GREECE OLYMPIA 16 18 18 19 — 71

3-point goals ODYSSEY 8 (Canady 2, Figueroa 1, Santiago 3, Decker 1, Williams 1); OLYMPIA 4 (Evans 3, Connor Welker 1).


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