In an MYHSAL quarter-final varsity basketball game, the Eastern Conference 5th seed HAFTR Hawks visited the Western Conference top seed Frisch Cougars. The Hawks defeated the Rambam Ravens in the first round while the Cougars had a first round bye.
The Cougars came out quickly playing very aggressive defense in jumping out to a 13-2 lead with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Hawks point guard Gabe Shamama hit a half court shot at the first quarter buzzer to cut the lead to six. The high scorer after the first quarter was Cougars’ junior guard Max Zakheim who scored 10 points leading Frisch to their 17-11 lead.
The Hawks scored the last 11 points of the second quarter to cut the Cougars lead to three at 28-25 at the half. Hawks’ forward Matthew Jedwab had six points and dominated the quarter. The Hawks kept chipping away and also won the third quarter to knot the game at 37-37.
With two minutes left in the game Hawks forward Dovi Baratz hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 51-51. This was HAFTR’s best chance to take the lead, something they were never able to do in the game. After a jump ball with eleven seconds left and Cougars up 54-52 the Hawks had a chance to tie the game. Zakheim stole the pass intended for Jordan Appel and was fouled with six seconds left. Zakheim hit both free throws to put Frisch up 56-52. HAFTR hit a layup at the buzzer to make the final score 56-54 in favor of the Cougars.
The Cougar team is led by senior starters Jake Fromen, Max Mayerhoff and Jack Reinhart. Fromen is the team energizer and scored seven points. Mayerhoff is the team’s veteran guard and had 12. Reinhart, the team’s coach on the floor, finished with five points including a key three-pointer to put the Cougars up 46-42 with six and half minutes to go in the game. Other key contributors include juniors Shmueli Coates and Danny Weinberger. Coates dominated inside and almost had the highlight play of the year with a fast break opportunity that included a behind-the-back dribble to shake a defender, but he just missed on the slam dunk attempt. Weinberger’s defensive intensity is always contagious and he also made a couple of huge layups.
Frisch’s head coach Frantz Pierre-Louis made sure the Cougars played a tough man to man defense the entire game while assistant coaches Eli Davidoff and Daniel Tamir did a great job putting their players in position to be successful.
In their next game, the Cougars will host Western Conference 3rd seed Heschel Heat in the semi-finals.
By Jack Reinhart
