(CMEK) The CMEK grade six girls, all from Englewood, won the Army Division of the Bergen Travel Basketball League. The team officially staked its claim as the #1 team in their age group in all of Bergen County.

After finishing with a 10-4 record in the regular season, the team entered the playoff as the #3 seed and earned a date with the defending champions, Glen Rock. In a see-saw battle that had many twists and turns, Kayla Stein from Yavneh, put the team on her back and got them back in the game. Trailing by one late, Emma Lieberman crashed the boards and scored off an offensive rebound which proved to be the game-winner.

In the final, the Emerson Cavos, led by the league’s strongest players stood in the way of the team’s first BTBL title. Emerson had defeated us twice earlier in the regular season. Behind a smothering defense led by Lilah Brickman, we forced our opponent into difficult shots. On the offensive end, onlookers compared the team to the old San Antonio Spurs. Sophia Heller orchestrated the attack and scored early, while Kendall Levine facilitated from the high post and led the team in rebounds. Lieberman scored early and hit a 3 and layup late. In the end, it was Stein, who once again proved to be the difference. The superstar wing seized the moment, scoring and rebounding, to the tune of a double double.

Throughout the season the team got significant contributions from Michal Gologorsky on defense. Kayla Schwebel shot lights out from deep. Annie Altman was solid on both ends of the floor and recorded a huge block in the final. Olivia Sheps was a terrific knock-down shooter. Stella Katz was very smart in the post and found the open shooters. Emmanuelle Ulmer played tremendous help defense and rebounded well.

The team will now try to become the first girls team in the history of the CMEK program to win championships in all three seasons.