By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Russell Ellis, Jr. led four in double figures, and No. 3 Greece Athena (17-5) erased a halftime deficit and went on to defeat No. 2 Pittsford Sutherland (19-3), 71-65 in Section V Class AA2 semifinal action from Webster Schroeder High School, Tuesday night.
With the win, the Trojans clinched a spot in Saturday’s championship game and will face No. 1 Pittsford Mendon.
Ellis converted 3-of-5 free throws in the final minute of the third quarter and then set up teammate Edin Jusic for a basket before the horn to end the period as the Trojans, who trailed by eight after two quarters of play, took a 56-48 lead into the final eight minutes of play.
“We’re some dawgs,” the 5-foot-9 Ellis said of his team. “We start off on the defensive end. Height doesn’t matter. Size doesn’t matter. We got heart. Heart over height.”
Trailing 37-28, Cole Poth started the third-quarter scoring for Athena. Colten Waterman converted a rebound and putback. Then Poth drew contact on a bucket in the paint.
Poth converted a pair of free throws to give the Trojans their first lead at 47-46 with 2:40 remaining in the quarter.
Sutherland outscored Athena early in the fourth.
Zach Neiderer connected on a corner three to make it a one-point game at 60-59 with less than three minutes left in regulation. Sam Byrne followed with a bucket in the lane.
The Knights had a brief edge at 61-60.
Ellis gave Athena a lead it did not surrender with 1:57 left in the game.
Sutherland took a 76-53 decision when the two teams met in the season opener. The loss was part of a 3-4 start for the Trojans who graduated over 50 points of offense from last year’s state semifinalist.
“I always believed since day one,” said Ellis who scored his 1,000th career point earlier in the season. “People thought it was a rebuilding year, but we just had to find out who we are as a team. They caught us in the first game. We caught them in the last game. Whole different team. Whole different mindset. I’m just blessed to be a part of this team.”
Poth finished with 16 points in the win. Waterman had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Caleb Brown converted 4-of-4 free throws in the final 26.6 seconds as part of a 13-point effort on the night. Shabazz Barnes came off the bench and scored four points including a conversion off a turnover to give Athena a 60-56 lead.
“From 1-14 we’ve had competitive practices all year,” Athena head coach Mike Setzer said referring to the number of players on his roster during the regular season. “We can go deep if we need to. If we get in foul trouble, we can go deep on our bench. Our team has been solid and competing all year…It’s fun to watch because they work so hard in practice, and it’s great to see them get there time to shine.”
Sutherland’s Jackson Birch scored 13 of his game-high 24 points to help stake the Knights to the halftime lead. The 6-foot-9 senior forward finished in the paint and then hit a 3-pointer to give Sutherland a 34-25 lead late in the second quarter.
“We were trying to do some zone, and it just isn’t us,” Setzer said of the approach coming out of halftime. “It’s kind of our plan b. Plan b wasn’t working. We said we’re going back to man (defense). We made a little adjustment bringing in Shabazz. He gave a great spark with ball pressure. We just kept them on their heels. When you play a team that’s bigger than you, that’s what you got to do.”
Saturday’s final is scheduled for an 11 a.m. tip off at the Blue Cross Arena.
*Headline and recap have been edited.
GREECE ATHENA (17-5) 71
Caleb Brown 3 6-8 13, Russell Ellis Jr. 9 3-5 22, Cole Poth 6 2-3 16, Colten Waterman 4 2-4 10, Xaviel Lewis 1 0-0 2, Ethan Gorham 0 0-0 0, Shabazz Barnes 2 0-0 4, CJ Webb 1 0-0 2, Edin Jusic 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 27 11-20 — 71
PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND (19-3) 65
Jackson Birch 9 506 24, Sam Byrne 5 3-4 13, Teddy Winter 3 2-2 8, Ethan Wachter 2 0-0 6, Tyler Allen 0 0-0 0, Zach Neiderer 3 3-3 12, Chase Dermody 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 23 13-15 — 65
GREECE ATHENA 116 12 28 15 — 71
SUTHERLAND 17 15 14 17 — 65
3-point goals: GREECE ATHENA 4 (Brown 1, Ellis 1, Poth 2); PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND 6 (Birch 1, Wachter 2, Neiderer 3).
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