Clearly showing that they are the Champions, the AHEPA team of Whitestone, NY won the Sons of Pericles District 5 Basketball Tournament by completing a perfect 4-0 winning streak.
In the finals, Whitestone defeated their closest rival, a team from Jersey City. Whitestone bested a depleted Jersey City team in the final, 62-42. Whitestone relied on quick ball
movement and pinpoint shooting to make for an unbeatable combination. Leading Whitestone in the final was Peter Papastefanou who scored 25 points and was Dimitri Douvres with 21. The team’s core has played together for many years, traveling throughout the country to play. Leading Jersey City was Dimitri Logothetis who scored 22 in the final.
Four teams competed in this year’s tournament. The field included teams from Clifton and Trenton, in addition to Whitestone and Jersey City. The tournament was held at St George Church in Clifton, NJ on Saturday, January 14th, 2017.
The format of the tournament featured round robin play in the preliminary round. Each team played all the other teams once. The top two teams competed in the championship game. Whitestone and Jersey City began the tournament with Whitestone winning but by a much closer margin, 60-52. That was the only loss that Jersey City was to suffer, earning them the number 2 spot.
However, in what almost was the biggest upset of the tournament, Whitestone eked out a one-point win 58-57 against the Clifton team, trailing for most of their game but coming back to win.
In what turned out to be the consolation game a young Trenton team made their debut by besting Clifton 59-39 to take the third spot.
The Sons of Pericles, the Junior Order of AHEPA is open to young men from 14 – 27. They hold regional AHEPA tournaments throughout the country. The top teams will compete in a tournament to be held at the Supreme Convention in Orlando, Florida this July.
Ted Vittas
District 5 Sons Advisor
Pictured from left to right: Dimitri Douvres, Peter Papastefanou, Peter Prassos (purple), Michael Doudolakis (white hoodie), Nectar Papadopoulos (on one knee w/ball), Joseph Kapassakis (black shirt)
