Greece Athena Wins Slam Dunk Tournament

WHITE PLAINS, NY - Coming into Monday's Slam Dunk Tournament Championship Game at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, Greece Athena was on cloud nine having beaten CHSAA power Iona Prep the night before, but there was still a little more business to get done on their trip downstate as they had a tough and talented Spring Valley team between them and the tournament title.

After a tight and competitive first half, forward Anthony Lamb '16 helped the Trojans pull away in the 3rd quarter to help Greece Athena win the Slam Dunk title over Spring Valley, 76-58.

So much focus for Greece Athena was on Iona Prep, and taking down the Gaels on Sunday that on Monday morning, the Trojans didn't know a ton about their opponents from Spring Valley outside of watching a bit of their win over Stepinac in the other semifinal, so Lamb and the rest of the squad got together during breakfast to do what most do during breakfast.

"We watched film then yeah," Lamb said. "We hadn't seen much of them other than that though but that was our chance to get an idea about them."

It wasn't much, but it proved to be beneficial for head coach Jim Johnson and his team as it allowed them to orchestrate a game plan as to how they would attack a team with a pair of Iona commits in forward Kai Mitchell '15 and guard Rickey McGill '15.

"We definitely wanted to work the ball inside to Anthony while also having our guards attack," Johnson explained. "Our philosophy was attack the rim first and play inside out."

That worked well in the opening half as after a close and competitive opening quarter that saw Spring Valley take a one point lead, the Trojans started to play crisper and were much more successful at finishing driving inside.

Zac DiSalvo '15 drove down the left wing and finished around Mitchell, and then after DiSalvo drove down the lane, he found an open Jay Sarkis '15 for a wide open three in the right corner to give Greece Athena back the lead midway through the 2nd quarter.

The Trojans also started dumping the ball inside to Lamb more who was able to finish strong against Mitchell as he helped Greece Athena finished the half on a 13-2 run to take a 34-26 lead into the half.

Greece Athena was playing well, but they needed to maintain the momentum as the high scoring Tigers are known to start going off at a moment's notice, and Johnson felt at the half that his message to his team explained that.

"I said that the big thing for us was to not allow them to get easy baskets in transition," Johnson said. "I felt we could score on them, but we needed to limit the easy buckets."

Lamb also added that to keep attacking and not let up on trying to beat guys to the rim was also very important, and that mindset paid huge dividends early in the 2nd half as well as exactly what couldn't happen for Spring Valley, happened.

With 6:22 to go in the 3rd quarter and down now 43-30, Mitchell picked up his 3rd foul, and 12 seconds later, McGill was whistled for his 3rd and both went to the bench. Mitchell didn't stay on the bench long though as even though the Tigers were not letting the deficit get any larger, head coach Willie Worsley put Mitchell back in with 4:05 to go in the quarter, not liking how easy Lamb was scoring around the rim, but 33 seconds later Mitchell picked up foul #4 as Sarkis drove inside and drew the foul.

It was a big moment in the game, and even Johnson admitted that going at Mitchell became part of the plan as he saw that the Spring Valley big man was getting overly aggressive against Lamb, but Spring Valley, even with the foul issues, were hanging around, down just 57-43 after three.

The Tigers were down but not out. Even with Greece Athena getting big efforts out the underrated duo of Peter Florin '15 and Brendon Wind '15, both of whom were able to score on putbacks and drives inside, Spring Valley was staying within striking distance. The Trojans lead was trimmed to as little as 10 with 3:10 left in the game, but each time Spring Valley sensed some hope, Lamb was there to end it as on three straight possessions he was able to either score or make a big defensive play. Sarkis also was able to finish on a beautiful scoop layup at McGill to make it a 71-57 Greece Athena lead with 1:18 to go which seemed to end the hope of the Tigers.

Both teams soon after made wholesale substitutions, and the Greece Athena starters were in full on celebration mode as the bench players got to shine late as the Trojans were able to close it out and claim the Slam Dunk Tournament Championship with the 76-58 victory.

Lamb was named Tournament MVP as in the championship he had a game high 24 points along with 14 rebounds in what was a big time overall performance, but not a surprising one if you ask him.

"I still feel like I could've done better, but we came down here and did what I expected us to do," Lamb admitted.

He expected to come down and beat both Iona Prep and whoever they faced in the title game because to Lamb, the Trojans are the best team in the state, and it is a part of his mission he says this year to prove that to everyone.

Without his teammates though, Lamb said he knew that wouldn't be possible, and with efforts like he got from Sarkis who had 14 points, Florin who had 13 points, and DiSalvo and Wind who each added 10, Lamb and Johnson were both very pleased with the way they came down and took care of business.

McGill didn't have a great shooting night going 8 of 22 from the floor, but he did have 19 points to lead Spring Valley, while Mitchell, though saddled with foul trouble, and eventually fouling out late in the 4th quarter, added 11 points and 13 rebounds in what was a very solid outing.

With wins against a pair of downstate powers and the Slam Dunk Tournament Championship going back to Rochester with them, the Greece Athena players are as confident as ever according to Lamb that they are the best in New York State, feeling that anything less than a State Championship is a failure, but for Johnson, he is staying away from predictions, and is instead focused at least on Monday night, on enjoying what will surely be a fun trip back home.

"This is great for our program and a great win for Section 5 overall. We will certainly enjoy this one, and the ride back now will be a lot better than had we lost, that's for sure."