By: Zach Harnischfeger
GREECE, N.Y.- It was a battle between the No. 1 and 2 teams in Section V Class AA2 as the Greece Athena Trojans boys basketball team hosted the Canandaigua Grey Wolves, who entered the game on a five-game winning streak, looking to remain undefeated. The Trojans overcame a slow start to come from behind and win the game 73-67.
“We needed that, we definitely needed that,” Greece Athena head coach Mike Setzer said. “Coach Davern is one heck of a coach. They play awesome defense in Canandaigua, and that’s a testament to him. I knew this was going to be a tough matchup for us, and they gave us a huge test and something we sorely needed.”
The Trojans struggled for most of the first quarter, not connecting on any shots, which allowed the Grey Wolves to go on a 9-0 run. The Trojans then went on a 7-0 run to make it 9-7 with just under three minutes to go in the quarter. The Grey Wolves led 14-9 after one.
The Canandaigua defense continued to dominate and capitalized on the struggles the Trojans were facing. The Grey Wolves led by 14 points at one point during the second quarter, but some key shots by Trojans senior guard I’zick Reaves and senior forward Ne’Shawn Fowlks at the end of the quarter brought the Grey Wolves lead down to 32-23 heading into halftime. Reaves led the way for the Trojans in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 18 points.
“My message was just stay disciplined on defense,” I'zick Reaves said. “Our offense was clicking even though we were down, we just had to get a stop on defense. Our main message was just like last year, get three stops in a row and our offense is going to start clicking."
The Trojans came out with a bang at the start of the third quarter, going on a 10-point run to tie the game at 32 at the 5:20 mark. The Trojans outscored the Grey Wolves in the third quarter 21-15 but still found themselves down 47-44 heading into the fourth quarter. Reaves connected on three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the quarter. He finished the game with 38 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
“My teammates trusted me,” I'zick Reaves said. “I haven't played well over the last three games but when it came to crunch time, they trusted me to get to the free throw line and hit the shots and that’s all I could do for them.”
The Trojans got their first lead of the game at the 3:17 mark in the fourth quarter after I‘Zick Reaves sunk a foul shot to put them up 51-50. Later in the quarter, Fowlks drained a 3-pointer to put the Trojans up 58-55 with two minutes left to play. Canandaigua senior forward Nathan Brinza knotted things back up at 60 with a two-pointer and foul shot. Fowlks missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the game went into overtime all tied up at 60 apiece.
Fowlks got the scoring started for the Trojans in overtime. After many missed shots and a few fouls by the Grey Wolves, Trojans senior guard I’zayah Reaves, I’zick Reaves, and Fowlks combined to go 8-for-9 on free throws to lead the Trojans to the overtime victory. Fowlks scored six points in overtime, which led the team. He ended the night second on the team in points with 15.
“I feel good, but we got to do better,” Fowlks said. “We have to come out early. We came out flat and that gave them confidence throughout most of the game.”
I’zick Reaves finished the game 10-for-15 in free throws and as a team, the Trojans went 17-of-22 from the foul line. I’zick Reaves knows that Greece Athena has to play their game and can’t overlook anyone in order to continue their success.
“What we have to do is stay even,” I’zick Reaves said. “Our record says 10-0 but honestly we're 0-0. We can't look past any opponent and we just have to execute and get better as a team. Once we do that no team in Section V can stop us."
With the win, the Trojans improve to 10-0 and will travel to Eastridge to take on the Lancers on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
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