Why Not Us?: Second half rally lifts Athena to Class AA2 Sectional Final

By: Dylan O'Loughlin

BROCKPORT, NY — The No. 3 Greece Athena Trojans took on the No. 2 Pittsford Sutherland Knights (NYSSWA Class AA No. 12) in the Section V Boys Basketball Class AA2 Semifinals at Webster Schroeder High School. Down six at halftime, the Trojans used a 28-point scoring outburst in the third quarter to take an eight point lead into the fourth Athena held the rest of the way for a 71-65 victory.

Greece Athena boys' basketball team in the huddle on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Photo: Paul Gotham/Pickin' Splinters)

“It was what we expected, Sutherland’s a great team, their record speaks for itself,” Greece Athena Head Coach Mike Setzer said. “They are such a tough matchup because they’re so big, but we’ve been working for a week and a half on this kind of concept because Vertus had a good big and we just played them. We were able to apply those things that we were scouting with Vertus so even with the short turnaround, it seemed to really work with our guys.”

Pittsford Sutherland started the second half with a three-pointer from senior Zach Neiderer to extend its lead to nine, the largest of the game. From that point though, Athena started to turn the tides.

The Trojans responded with a 19-9 run to tie the game at 46 apiece midway through the third. Leading the way for Athena in the quarter was senior guard Cole Poth, who netted nine 11 of his 16 points in the quarter to tie the game.

Athena kept that momentum rolling as seven different Trojans put points on the board in the third. Junior guard Russell Ellis Jr capped off the 28-11 quarter with three free throws after getting fouled from beyond the arc to give Athena a 56-48 lead to start the fourth.

The Knights started the fourth on a quick 8-0 run to tie the game. Then back and forth buckets gave Sutherland a 61-60 lead after a pull up jumper from senior guard Sam Byrne with under five minutes to go. That would be the last time the Knights had the least the rest of the way.

After going down one, Ellis and senior Caleb Brown took over, scoring 10 of the last 11 points for the Trojans to take the lead right back. Down three with under a minute to go, the Knights had a chance to tie, but did not connect as Athena’s Brown got the board and iced the game with two free throws to put the game away.

“We worked so hard,” Ellis said. “I’ve been going to school with them since sixth grade. It’s the last year for some of them and I’m just blessed to have a chance to go win a championship with them boys. I love them so much and I have the most trust in them.”

This is just the second time that Sutherland has allowed more than 70 points in a game all season. The first time came against the top-seeded squad in AA2 Pittsford Mendon which also

resulted in a loss, 72-67. On the other hand, Athena has held opponents to under 70 points 17 times this season and are undefeated when the Trojans do so.

In the first half, it was a battle between the top scorers of AA2 with Athena’s Ellis (16.4 PPG / 7th AA2) and Sutherland’s senior forward Jackson Birch (20.4 PPG / 2nd AA2). The two went bucket for bucket as Ellis and Birch both scored 13 points apiece in the first half to lead their squads. On the night, Birch led all scorers with 24 points while Ellis finished with a team-high 22.

“The first key on the board is ‘work harder’,” Setzer said. “It’s always our first key on the board for our Keys to Victory is ‘work harder’ than they do and we had to front him (Birch) and when they threw over the top we needed to have somebody tough back there trying to swat the ball out and I thought our guards did a great job. I don’t care what Russell Ellis’s height is, he is tough. Even a kid like Colten Waterman, what a tough kid, he is kind of our unsung hero. We had to play through foul trouble and Shabazz Barnes coming off the bench gave us a boost on defense. I’m just so proud of the guys.”

To go along with 22 points, Ellis also picked up four rebounds, three assists and three steals for Athena. Poth finished with 16 points, two boards and two steals while Caleb Brown chipped in 13 points including six in the final eight minutes, grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot. Colten Waterman added 10 points, seven boards, four assists and a steal. Shabazz Barnes (4), Coran Webb (4) and Edin Jusic (2) rounded out the scoring.

For Sutherland, along with Birch’s game-high 24 points, Byrne netted 13 points while Neiderer followed with 12 points including nine from beyond the arc. Teddy Winter notched eight points with six in the first quarter while Ethan Wachter knocked down two threes for six points. Chase Dermody tallied two points.

After making it all the way to the NYS Semifinals last year, Athena is back in the sectional championship game and is looking to go back-to-back for the first time since 2013 where the Trojans three-peated from 2013-2015. Despite losing four senior starters and starting off the season 8-4, Athena has now rattled off eight straight victories to get to the title game.

“They beat us earlier in this season and we all came in with a chip on our shoulder,” Ellis said. “They thought it was going to be a walk in the park, but we’re dogs and we weren’t settling for nothing more than going to Blue Cross. We wanted to go back.”

“People thought this was a rebuild, it was not,” Setzer said. “We never said those words, we always said that we can do it and in fact on our t-shirt it says: Why Not Us?”

With the win, Athena improves to 17-5 overall while Sutherland ends its season with a 19-3 record. The Trojans now travel to Blue Cross Arena for the Class AA2 Sectional Championship as Athena faces No. 1 Pittsford Mendon (NYSSWA Class AA No. 6) on Saturday, March 7. Tip off is scheduled for 11 a.m.