(Noam Sports) Last Wednesday night the eighth grade Yavneh Redhawks girls basketball team hosted the Noam Knights in a game that had a postseason feel. The Redhawks entered the game with an 0-2 mark eager to rebound from a narrow defeat at SAR, while the Knights were 2-1 coming off a nailibitting victory, also at SAR.

Yavneh came out shooting with a made three from Sarah Silver enroute to her game high 13 point performance. The Knights answered back with a three from Gaby Hoffer and went ahead on a put back from Avital Sebbag. The first half was back and forth, with Noam building its biggest lead—11 points—going into halftime.

In addition to the lead, Noam also had to deal with an injury to sharpshooter Orli Scharf at the half. After deflecting a pass her thumb started to swell, although she told Coach Gutlove, “My thumb really hurts, I might not be able to catch the ball or shoot, but I can still play defense if you need me.” Fearing future damage, Scharf sat out the second half and her teammates stepped up in her absence. Tamar Feldman played stifling defense on Silver denying her the ball and contesting every shot attempt. Merav Elkin was dominant on the boards, finishing one basket short of her first double double of the season.

The Redhawks kept fighting back with a couple of buckets apiece from Daniella Marks and Gabriella Adler. They were not able to bridge the gap, however, and when the final buzzer sounded the Knights walked away with a 30-25 victory. These two teams will meet again on February 3, for what is sure to be another great game.