The Noam 8b basketball team improved to 5-0 with victories over ASHAR and Moriah.
On Thursday December 17, the Knights hosted ASHAR. The Knights were a little sloppy to start and ASAR took advantage by keeping the game very close after the first quarter. The Knights righted the ship in the second and pulled away for the win. There were contributions from the entire Knights team, led by Eli Goldberg (20), Ari Green (14), Shaya Novogrodsky (12) and Akiva Prager (10).
The victory over ASHAR set up the Knight’s big showdown at Moriah. It was a highly anticipated matchup between two of the top teams in the league. Moriah jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead but that did not deter the Knights. They kept their composure and finally got going. Ari Kaminetzky (20) put the Knights on his back in the first half, hitting three pointers from all over the place. Billy Krause (11) and Sam Bendheim (7) controlled the inside, and the Knights used their pressure defense to get out to an 11-point lead. Ari Green came off the bench and provided a big spark for the Knights as well.
Noam was on the verge of blowing the game open late in the first half. Moriah’s toughness kicked in and, led by their suffocating man-to-man defense and the brilliant play of Gabi Katz (36), cut the Noam lead to 6 at the half.
The third quarter was fast-paced and high scoring for both teams. Katz was dominating inside for Moriah, and Kaminetzky kept draining 3’s for the Knights. Moriah started to break the Noam press very easily with the sharp passing of Horowitz (9) and Lewis (6); momentum was swinging their way. Noam hung in there and every time it looked like Moriah could get the lead the Knights scored a big basket, none bigger than Reuben Melzer’s baseline reverse layup that brought the crowd to its feet. The quarter ended with the Knights up 5, but Moriah was wearing Noam down and seemed ready to take control of the game in the fourth. With about five minutes left in the game they did just that, grabbing their first lead since early in the first quarter. Moriah was ready to knock the Knight’s out. Noam was reeling and exhausted and needed someone to step up. Yoni Mann (23) was that guy. In a performance that will be remembered for many years to come, Yoni would not be denied and would not let his team lose. As soon as Moriah took the lead, Yoni got it right back for the Knights. When Moriah jumped back in front, there was Yoni again with a big steal and layup. He was all over the place getting rebounds, steals and baskets. His ball handling and foul shooting down the stretch were outstanding and sealed the deal for the Knights as they went on 12-2 run to close out an exhilarating 68-6 victory.
