When Frisch began its varsity basketball season in September, they had 18 guys on the roster. People said that it would be impossible to accomplish anything with so many players; however, the Frisch boys knew from day one that their group was no ordinary assembly.
Frisch participated in both the Steve Glouberman Annual Basketball Tournament in Los Angeles and the Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament in New York, and they noticed something interesting at each event. Teams analyzed Frisch both on and off the court, not just in hopes of toppling the number one seed, but because the camaraderie that Frisch displayed at all times was incredible. The series of events through the Cougars’ season—from winning the Los Angeles tournament, to losing to Flatbush in November, to losing to Heschel two weeks later, to a seven game win streak, to losing to TABC on a buzzer-beater, to beating Heschel on senior night—bonded them like glue. You know what they say: Cougars run together.
The Cougars had their first playoff game against Flatbush in the Frisch gym just 27 hours after winning the Sarachek tournament. Frisch faced a 32-22 halftime deficit but rallied back to win on a buzzer-beating shot from Jack Stepner that followed an inbound pass with only 0.7 seconds left on the clock. A week later, Frisch squared off against MTA for the fifth time of the season. Although the game was close at the half, Frisch came out strong in the third quarter to extend the lead and dominate the rest of the game. On that same night, Heschel beat DRS, and the stage was set.
It was the rematch that was meant to be, with the top two teams in the yeshiva league going head to head for the championship after splitting games during the regular season. Heschel had a strong win over Frisch on their court in December, overcoming a halftime deficit to beat Frisch with the help of strong three-point shooting, and Frisch was able to break Heschel’s undefeated season later in February with a win in which the Cougars led the entire game.
The Frisch Cougars knew the game plan. Heschel was a stellar shooting team, so Frisch knew they had to guard the perimeter well and use their size on offense. Heschel’s best players, Harlan Reiss and Ilan Orgel, were both dominant offensive players as well as great defenders; Heschel’s bread and butter was their stifling man-to-man defense. Frisch had accomplished a lot over the course of six months, but they had one more goal in their sights: the yeshiva league championship.
It was an intense and nerve-wracking game, to say the least. Frisch played their game, defending the perimeter well and dominating the paint, leading to a 15 point lead early on in the second half, but Heschel did not back down. They rallied back by penetrating the middle, hitting layups or kicking the ball out and knocking down their threes. With the game winding down, Heschel had all of the momentum. With just under two minutes left, Frisch held a two-point lead, but things were not looking good. However, as a sign of their growth and maturity, they stayed confident and composed. They locked up on defense and worked the ball on offense. A lucky break came when Sammy Fishman followed a missed Frisch free throw with a contested layup to increase the Frisch lead to four with under a minute left. Heschel tried to get an open look for a three, but Frisch guards Isaac Laifer, Yisroel Solomon, Jordan Kleinhaus and Josh Dukas made it difficult. After an unsuccessful three-point attempt from Heschel, the Heat had to foul and send Frisch to the line. In the final thirty seconds of the game, Fishman grabbed three offensive rebounds off of missed foul shots, giving Heschel no chance of getting back in the game. The game ended 53-45, and Fishman was named championship MVP after filling up the box score with 23 points and 18 rebounds. Frisch had achieved an astounding feat; they won the Steve Glouberman Tournament in Los Angeles, the Sarachek Tournament and now the yeshiva league.
The Frisch team that beat Heschel was not the Frisch team from September, October or even February. The team had undergone a transformation during Sarachek and the playoffs. They may have been playing the same sport, but their mentality and performance had improved dramatically.
Frisch would like to thank the team and its coaches, Joe Schwartz, Eli Davidoff and Daniel Tamir, for a year that will surely go down in the books as historic. Thank you to seniors Captain Isaac Laifer, Zak Comet, Josh Dukas, Jordan Kleinhaus, Avi Nat, Yaron Schneider, Yisroel Solomon, JJ Zakheim, Sammy Fishman and Mark Abramovitz, and juniors Noam Kuritzky, Jack Levine, Asaf Miller, Alex Paul, Stevie Paul, Moshe Shoenfeld, Jack Stepner and Judah Strulowitz for a season that the team will never forget.
By Mark Abramovitz
