By STEPHEN BRICKLER
HENRIETTA, N.Y. — Sophomore Russell Ellis scored 17 points to lead Greece Athena (23-2) past Health Sciences (18-7), 56-55 of Section VI in the Class AA Far West Regional at Rush-Henrietta High School on Saturday afternoon in a game that was played within one possession for virtually the entire second half.
“I feel that was a great game. All of my guys played well. I started out with a slow start but Russell Ellis, our sophomore, had 10 in the first half and had a great overall game,” said Athena’s I’zick Reaves postgame.
“I’m proud of the way we always fight”, said Ellis.
The first quarter offered a glimpse of what was to come as the lead changed hands eight times in the opening eight minutes. Ellis led the charge for Athena in the first scoring nine straight points for the Trojans on one triple and three two pointers on drives to the hoop. Both teams used their defense to fuel their offense. The Falcons used a matchup zone to disrupt the Athena offense while the Trojans switched between man and zone throughout the game.
“They played really good matchup zone”, said Athena Coach Mike Setzer. “I almost think if I had a do over, I think I would try to run more of our man offenses against it because they have a lot of man principles in their zone.”
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With the score tied late in the first quarter, the Trojans opened up the only significant lead of the game for either team, going on a 10-0 run spanning the first and second quarter to take a 23-13 lead.
The Falcons responded with eight straight of their own as Mycheal Whitt and Zayvion Hawkins each scored four points to get the game back to one possession.
“There were a lot of highs and lows”, said Setzer. “At first we were up 19-13 or 21-13 or something like that and I felt like we were getting what we wanted to get. We switched to zone because we had a bunch of guys get a foul on them and so I thought it was going our way and then all of a sudden some of our guys got their second fouls and credit to them, they kept finding gaps in our zone.”
The rest of the quarter continued to see each team match baskets, with Athena able to maintain their slim lead through the remainder of the quarter, going into the break with a 32-29 edge.
The Falcons took their first lead since the middle of the first by scoring the first 5 points out of the break on a two pointer by Hawkins and a triple by Nas Young.
I’zick Reaves had an immediate answer with his second triple of the game which was followed by two pointers from Ellis and I’zayah Reaves to give Athena a 39-34 lead, the largest either team would enjoy in the second half.
Health Sciences recaptured the lead late in the third powered by a turnaround dunk by Falcons’ big man Staz Chiddick. Ellis responded with a triple for the Trojans while Chiddick tied the game at the end of the third at 44 apiece.
It didn’t seem as if the defensive intensity could get any greater, but each team picked things up a notch to start the fourth quarter. I’zayah Reaves forced a Falcon turnover on a 5 second count to begin the quarter and then Chiddick came out of nowhere to block what looked to be an uncontested lay in for the Trojans.
“Forty-two (Chiddick) was such an eraser. There was a couple of times that looked like we had a wide open layup and he took it away”, said Setzer.
The Trojans broke through first in the last quarter with an I’zayah Reaves triple and a deuce by Ne’Sean Fowlks to go back up five. Young and Hawkins pulled the Falcons to within one but I’zick Reaves hit from distance to put Athena back up by four.
The Falcons regained the advantage midway through the fourth. Young hit a free throw but missed the second. Angel Pedro grabbed the rebound for Health Sciences and put it back off the glass to pull the Falcons within one. Hawkins then finished an and one three pointer to give Health Sciences a 54-52 lead with 3:59 to play.
Reaves drained two free throws and Dominic LaMar finished down low to give the Trojans a two point lead with just over a minute to play.
Hawkins hit the first of two free throws to pull the Falcons within one at 56-55. It would be the last point of the game but there was still a lot of drama to come.
The Falcons fouled the Trojans with just over 30 seconds left. The Trojans missed both free throws and Health Sciences called a timeout to set up a play to try to retake the lead. Athena’s defense prevented Young from driving into the lane, so he kicked it out for a three-point attempt that bounced off the right of the rim with less than five seconds left. Two Falcon players were in position to grab the rebound and looked to have an uncontested putback opportunity but the rebound bounced off their hands and out of bounds giving possession to the Trojans.
The Falcons fouled Athena again with 3.3 seconds left but again Athena came way empty at the foul line. Health Sciences got the rebound off the second miss, found Young on the left side of the court but his three-point attempt from just beyond midcourt was blocked by the length of LaMar.
“It was a dogfight all game. Props to those guys. We came out hard, they came out hard and we got it done”, said LaMar.
“Twice we had a chance to push it to three points and we went 0-4 down the stretch at the free throw line”, said Setzer. “So, we’re trying to set up our three-point defense and it turns out we had to play it standard. Dominic and Russell on that last possession did a great job. Dominic blitzed the screen on number one (Young) and then rotated back and then Russell rotated back. It was textbook how they did it.”
The Trojans advanced to this game by defeating Penfield in triple overtime earlier in the week in the state qualifier game. The experience of playing in a tight game on Tuesday seemed to help the Trojans.
“Penfield made us a better team”, said Setzer. “They challenged us for the entire game, that definitely made us more prepared.”
“Coaches told us we that last year we came into games too serious. This year, we’re not only focused on taking care of business but having fun”, said I’zick Reaves.
“We did get close but we never got over the hump,” said I’zayah Reaves of the Trojans first title since 2015 despite some near misses. “And now, with our last go around we got over the hump and he’s (Ellis) got two more years so they’re (future opponents) going to be in trouble.”
“We don’t focus on the past but if you walk in our gym, you see John Wallace and his teams, I think they went 23-0 and there’s a big banner, we look at that every day and we see all of our state runs and all the other banners we have. To be able to look up and to be able to see that with 2025 next to it, it’s amazing honestly”, said I’zick Reaves.
The Trojans move on to play the winner of Niskayuna and West Genesee in the state semifinals in Binghamton next weekend. Aside from Ellis’s 17, I’zick Reaves added 10, I’zayah Reaves and LaMar added 8 apiece, Fowlks added 6 while Travis Mack and Ethan Gorham added 4 and 3 respectively.
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