One squad is making its sixth Far West Regional appearance and first since 2015. The other program is looking to stay undefeated in regionals and makes its first appearance since 2018. Rush-Henrietta High School is the setting as Section V Class AA champs Greece Athena take on the title holder of Section VI Health Sciences in the Class AA Far West Regional. Here’s the breakdown:
GREECE ATHENA TROJANS (21-2 / Monroe County III / No. 5 NYSSWA)
vs.
HEALTH SCIENCES FALCONS (18-6 / Buffalo Yale Cup I / No. 16 NYSSWA)
Saturday March 15, Rush-Henrietta HS, 12 p.m.
How they arrived here: Top-seeded Greece Athena defeated Greece Arcadia (76-50) and Gates Chili (66-60) to reach the Section V AA2 title game. The Trojans beat Canandaigua (73-54) to be crowned champions. Greece Athena went to battle in a triple overtime thriller against AA1 champs Penfield and pulled out the victory 75-72 to advance to the Class AA regional. Health Sciences cruised to a 73-46 victory in the quarterfinals against No. 8 Starpoint after receiving a first round bye. The Falcons kept the momentum going with a 63-44 win over No. 5 Sweet Home and won a defensive battle in the Section VI AA2 championship against Williamsville East 41-37. In the AA regional qualifier, Health Sciences defeated Lockport 53-42 to move on to the Far West Regional.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
Scoring offense: Greece Athena (70.2), Health Sciences (63.0)
Scoring defense: Greece Athena (54.9), Health Sciences (41.3)
Trends: Greece Athena has won 10 of its last 11 games with seven coming by 10-plus points. The Trojans have outscored opponents 756-546 while scoring 70-plus in seven of those outings. In the postseason, the Trojans have two wins by at least 15 points along with being 2-0 in games decided by two possessions or less. To go along with that, no team scored over 60 points against Athena in the playoffs until the class AA regional qualifier where Penfield dropped 72. Health Sciences enters the Far West Regional on an eight-game winning streak with seven wins by 10 or more points and five by 25-plus. In this stretch, the Falcons have outscored teams 537-306 and have held all its opponents to under 50 points. All of Health Sciences victories have came by double-digits this season except one, the Section VI Class AA finals in a 41-37 victory against Williamsville East.
Players to watch for Greece Athena: Dominic LaMar Sr. (10 PPG, 7.7 RPG); I’zick Reaves Sr. (16.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.4 SPG); Ne’Sean Fowlks Sr. (11.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.8 SPG); Russell Ellis So. (11.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, three APG, 1.4 SPG); Travis Mack Sr.; I’zayah Reaves Sr.
Health Sciences: Zayvion Hawkins Jr. G 11.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.3 APG; Nahssan Young Jr. G 11.4 PPG, 4.2 APG, 2.8 SPG, 2.2 RPG; Mychael Whitt So. G 9.8 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.4 RPG, 2.0 SPG; Joel Ball Jr. G 9.7 PPG, 2.0 SPG; Staz Chiddick Sr. F 7.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG
Coaches: Mike Setzer (Greece Athena), Ty Parker (Health Sciences)
History 101: Athena is back in the regionals for the first time since 2015 and making its sixth appearance in program history The Trojans are 2-3 in their previous trips with a win over Williamsville South (62-42) in 2015. Health Sciences makes its third regional appearance. It would be fourth, but the state tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19. In previous appearances, Health Sciences is 2-0 in regionals with its most recent victory coming in 2018 against Greece Odyssey in the Class B regional.
What’s at stake: A spot in the NYS Class AA semifinals against either Niskayuna (II) or West Genesee (III).
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