This past Saturday night kicked off the beginning of the much-anticipated MGBL high school playoffs at the Jewish Center of Teaneck. In the first game, Duff & Phelps faced off against Lincoln Equities Group. Daniel Hirsch lead all scorers with 16 points and team Duff & Phelps to a 58-46 victory. In the nightcap, Jack Reinhart lead all scorers with 14 points for the Benchwarmers, but it was the balanced scoring (four players with nine points) that carried THESHPIELMANS.COM – # 1 toy on planet team to a 50-39 victory and the chance to play another day.
Round two takes us to Paramus and the state of the art Yavneh gym, on a date that will forever be recorded as overtime Sunday. The first game featured Sharsheret and Herzfeld strong. The Herzfeld boys were coming of two consecutive offensive explosions to end the season; Sharsheret knew they hand their hands full. To make matters worse, Sharsheret was missing several key players and Head Coach Nachi Paul. The game was close throughout, but when Sharsheret went into the half down six point, 28-22, Assistant Coach Noah Gutlove told The Jewish Link, “It was a slim margin and I knew we would battle back.” Gutlove was correct, on the shoulders of Stevie Paul’s game high 25 points and Ikey Gutlove’s 19 points, they not only fought back, but had a lead with seconds to play. Aiden Sausen lead the Herzfeld team with 22 points but it was two huge free throws by Eitan Zwebner that tied the game at 53 sending the game into overtime. In the extra frame, Sharsheret hit two quick shots and cashed in when Herzfeld strong had to foul to stop the clock by a final score of 60-58.
In the second game, Duff & Phelps was back in action against B-I-L Office Furniture. The two teams traded baskets in the first half with B-I-L Office Furniture taking a slim 29-28 lead into the half, while B-I-L’s Dov Koenigsberg scored 15 of his game high 26 points. The second half was also back and forth, Daniel Weinberger nailed three three pointers for Duff & Phelps, and when the buzzer sounded the two teams headed to overtime tied at 54. Both teams ramped up the defense in overtime and B-I-L Office Furniture advances with a 61-56 victory.
In the third game, THESHPIELMANS.COM team was back in action against the Akari Therapeutics Plc team. Two of the league’s top big men matched each other shot for shot as Jack Stepner and Chesky Lewin each led their teams with 29 points a piece and when regulation was over…yup, you guessed it—the score was tied at 52. In the overtime THESHPIELMANS.COM’s Shmulie Coates nailed two huge threes but the game was won at the line when Akiva Feit sank seven free throws helping THESHPIELMANS.COM team advance to the semifinals.
Game four was Embroidme vs Confie; both teams finished the season with identical 4-3 records. With Embroidme winning their regular season meeting 57-54, most of the fans thought this one would also go into overtime. Yoni Rothberg came out shooting for Confie, hitting four threes in the first half (12 of his team high 16 points). Eli Sudwerts answered with four threes of his own in the second half, but it was the coast to coast high tempo game of Jonathan Bick that carried Embroidme to a 57-45 victory.
If these games were any indicator, the final rounds of these playoffs (Saturday night and Sunday) are not to be missed. A complete schedule can be found on the MGBL site at http://mgbl.org/Schedule.php?LeagueID=8.
