Greene’s Will Dunlap (#2) drives to the basket late in the fourth quarter. Dunlap posted 13 points in the final eight minutes alone, but Greene fell 49-46 to Sidney. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

GREENE – The Greene Trojans boys’ basketball team hosted the Sidney Sabers in the MAC playoffs with the trip to the MAC championship on the line. Greene, who fell to Bainbridge-Guilford last year in a similar situation, came up just short again in a nail-biting 49-46 deficit to Sidney. Greene defeated Sidney in the regular season, but Sidney was too strong to close out the game this time around.

Greene held the lead throughout the first half, even with limited offensive efforts before halftime. The game only got more intense after the break in the back-and-forth affair, which left the game tied at 31 after the third quarter. The final eight minutes brought the best efforts from both teams, but it was Sidney with the advantage.

Greene’s Will Dunlap stormed down the court in the first minute of the fourth quarter and continued to drive to the hoop with all 13 of his points in those eighth minutes. However, Sidney matched intensity and held a one-point lead with under a minute remaining. Greene also could not stop Sidney’s Connor van der Sommen from driving to the basket, where he finished with 24 points.

Sidney had the ball with 30 seconds left, where the attempt at a long pass to add on to the score failed as the ball hit the ceiling, giving Greene a chance to take the lead. However, Greene was forced out of bounds, limiting their chances. Sidney was fouled with seconds remaining and Jalen Reardon hit the final two free throws to seal the victory.

Greene was led by Joel Vielandi, who saw room to move in the first half, with 16 points as Dunlap finished behind him with 13 points. Jaden Eroshevich was held scoreless in the second half, but added 11 points with seven in the first quarter.

Greene will host Bainbridge-Guilford in the MAC consolation game on Thursday, February 15 at 7:15 p.m. as Sidney and Delhi will play for the league title on Saturday.

Scores by quarter:

SI 15 5 11 18—49

GR 18 6 7 15–46

SI: Connor van der Sommen 24, Dylan Easton 9, Jalen Reardon 7, Grady Loeffler 5, Jack Langstaff 2, Jesse Newell 2.

GR: Joel Vielandi 16, Will Dunlap 13, Jaden Eroshevich 11, Kloden Rapp 4, Colin Colgan 2.

Three-pointers: SI 2 (van der Sommen, Loeffler); GR 6 (Dunlap 3, Vielandi 2, Eroshevich).