ROCHESTER — The Canandaigua Academy boys basketball team had all the momentum it could ask for coming into the Class AA2 finals. The No. 2 seeded Gray Wolves had won 10 of its last 12 games entering its first Sectional final since 2002.

However, after losing in last year’s sectional title game, top-seeded Greece Athena came ready to play. They shot well, defended even better and shut down senior Connor Chapman to win their first sectional title since 2015, 73-54.

“The senior class, 16 wins last year, 18 wins this year,” Canandaigua Academy head coach Jimmy Davern said. “They set the tone for turning this program around and I am really proud of those guys.”

Things couldn’t have started better for Canandaigua (x-x). A 10-0 run led by senior Nate Brinza and freshman Finn Damann gave the Gray Wolves the start they were looking for and forced Athena to take an early timeout.

“Finna Damann was unbelievable today if you ask me,” Davern said. Damann ended with 14 points and landed a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Brinza ended with 11.

That timeout woke the Spartans up, and they went on a 10-0 run of their own to tie the game and eventually took a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter with a bucket in the dying seconds.

After that, they never gave up the lead again.

“We got off to a great start and did some of the things we talked about — getting back in transition, second-chance opportunities,” Davern said. “But let’s be honest, Greece Athena has got some great players. It’s a great program.”

Athena went on an 11-4 run in the first two-and-a-half minutes and then increased their lead to 30-18 following a steal and fastbreak dunk from I’zick Reaves, who ended with 23 points and was named Tournament MVP. Reeves and the Spartans’ athleticism was on full display on Les Harrison Court, dunking five times throughout the game.

Additionally, the Spartans locked down Chapman as best they could on the defensive end, something no team has found success doing this season. The combination of Reeves and Dominic LaMar gave Chapman little room to create space or drive to the lane.

The halftime buzzer sounded with Athena up 38-25. Following the Gray Wolves’ 10-0 start, the Spartans outscored them 38-15 led by their suffocating defense.

“Tonight, (Greece Athena) was hitting on all cylinders and I give coach Mike Setzer a lot of credit. They know us really well,” Davern said. “This is their third consecutive year here. Maybe the lights were a bit bright for us but it’s good prep and we’ll try and be back next year.”

Trying to get themselves back into the game, the Gray Wolves took every chance they got on the offensive end, trying to squeeze any weakness out of Athena’s defense.

Chapman was able to get put-back buckets flying into the lane for rebounds and eventually started to break down the Athena defense in the second half. He led the Gray Wolves with 19 points and gave every ounce he had trying to cut into Athena’s lead.

A converted and-1 from Reeves gave Chapman his third foul with 3:38 to go in the third quarter and put the Spartans up by 20, 50-30. Athena was not only taking care of business on offense, it was capitalizing on every single Canandaigua mistake and converting them into both time off the clock and points. The fourth quarter arrived with Athena in firm control 55-36.

A final dunk by Russell Ellis kept Athena’s lead to 20 and with 2:08 remaining, the starters from each team were taken out to be recognized. For Davern, he will have Uber-talented freshman returning next year in Damann and Kobe Maroney, who each got to watch and learn from senior Chapman, Brinza, Drew Williamee and others on how to go about the business of getting to a championship game.

“The thing about this group is they love to compete,” Davern said. “To be a champion, you have to have a desire not to lose, and we had that all year. We muscled out a 16-4 record in Monroe County, which is a really tough thing to do. I attribute it to the grit of the kids.”