Greco continues to shine in Greece

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan

How do you say thank you in Greek?

Former Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball star Michelle Greco

has probably been getting a lot of thanks playing for Apollon

Ptolemaidas in the Hellenic Basketball Federation in Greece.

The 23-year-old UCLA graduate and 1998 CV alumnus scored a

season-high 26 points Sunday, leading Apollon to a 92-62 win against

Panathinaikos.

The Ptolemaidas improved their record to 5-1 -- including five

consecutive victories -- since Greco joined their club six weeks ago.

They’ve moved to fifth place in the standings with 31 points, four

points behind Esperides Kallitheas, and leapfrogged Panathinaikos

with Sunday’s triumph.

Ptolemaidas (12-7) will play Esperides (16-3) on Sunday.

Greco -- who played in the Basketball Assn. of Israel for one

month before joining Apollon -- has averaged 15.2 points per game on

the 10-player team.

She carried Ptolemaidas on Sunday, shooting eight of 16 from the

field and seven of eight from the foul line.

Greco -- the Falcons’ all-time leading scorer with 2,397 points, a

mark that was threatened by CV senior Jeanine Deno, who finished with

2,324 points -- also had nine rebounds and three assists in a

team-high 34 minutes.

Greco is 34 of 76 (44.7%) from the field on the season. She is

also 11 of 12 (91.7%) from the charity stripe and four of nine

(44.4%) from beyond the three-point arc.

The road might get easier for Greco and her teammates the rest of

the way.

After meeting Esperides, Ptolemaidas -- who won the title in 2000

and 1998 -- will play six more games, but only two against teams with

winning records.

One of their opponents, Akadimia Ilioupolis (14-5), is ahead of

Ptolemaidas in the standings.

Their final four opponents have a combined record of 21-55,

including Aris Thivas (5-14) and AO P. Faliro (1-18). The regular season will conclude May 2.

Games consist of four 10-minute quarters. Contests are played on

Sundays only.