With one swipe of their paws, the 2014-15 Frisch Varsity Basketball team swatted the Flatbush Falcons out of Paramus and: (1) won their final Yeshiva League regular season game to run their record to a perfect 14-0 (20-1 overall); (2) captured the inaugural Rubinstein Memorial Varsity Tournament trophy; and (3) highlighted the careers of seniors who completed a bookend perfect season to go with their 10-0 championship JV season in 2012-13.
Although the Falcons, a scrappy team that lost four games by 2 points or less during the season, were still technically alive for the playoffs when the night began, the emotion of Senior Night overwhelmed them from the start.
After an opening ceremony that saw Senior Captains Tyler Hod, Benni Tuchman, and Michael Finkel thank their coaches Joe Schwartz and Eli Davidoff (former coach Avi Borenstein—now the Flatbush coach—also looked on), and acknowledge fellow seniors Jesse Arbisfeld, Robby Bernstein, Kevin Ebrahimoff, Sam Finkel, and Andrew Levine, their other teammates and the fans, the Cougars leapt out to a 14-5 1st quarter lead behind stellar play by all the seniors, led by Hod and Tuchman.
When some of the juniors got into the fray in the 2nd quarter, the Cougars doubled their lead to 32-14 as the teams went into the locker rooms.
The Falcons did not quit, though, and fought back in the 3rd and won the quarter 15-11, at one point cutting the deficit to 12 behind strong play from Silverman, Beyda, and Richter. But in the end, the full Frisch roster was just too much for the Birds from Brooklyn and with an 18-9 4th quarter going Frisch’s way, the Cougars prevailed by a final score of 61-38.
Tuchman went 7-8 from the field and 3-4 from the line to lead the way with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Hod stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Mike Finkel, back full strength from an injury, netted 5 points, while Sam Finkel and Kevin Ebrahimoff dropped in 4 each. Jesse Arbisfeld and Andrew Levine each added a bucket and Robby Bernstein put the finishing touches on the seniors’ masterpiece season with 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and a sweet dish for an assist.
Having won the West Division of the Yeshiva League and earned a first round bye and home court advantage, Frisch now awaits its first playoff opponent in mid-February.
