The setting was perfect for opening night for JEC and Ohr Yisroel. The Thunder traveled to Lubavitch on the Palisades, home of Ohr Yisroel on a beautiful warm November 6, evening, for its opening night, after an impressive run in the Magen David Tournament the week before. Ohr Yisroel had already played Frisch to a loss, and went on the road to beat HANC in overtime, to have a 1-1 Yeshiva League record.

The gym was packed as this game had become very meaningful for both teams. OY has several former JEC players and Ohr Yisroel’s coach had been a star at JEC playing for JEC’s head coach, Avi Borenstein, and now was setting his sights on his alma mater. Both teams highlighted this game in red on their respective schedules due to their rivalry and the sense that this was going to be a competitive and exciting night.

JEC scored first on a shot from junior guard Eitan Speyer. From there, the first period was back and forth, and by the time the first eight minutes passed, Ohr Yisroel had a 14-13 lead. In the second quarter, the combination of JEC’s press and the glass and scoring domination of senior forward Michoel Cornick (12 points in the first half, and game high 16 rebounds) allowed the Thunder to regain the lead and, at the half, the score was 28-24, JEC.

Coming out of half-time, the crowd knew it was going to continue to be a tight match and the teams did not disappoint. Ohr Yisroel outscored JEC in the third period, 12-10, and going into the fourth period it was JEC, 38 and Ohr Yisroel, 36—and it was anyone’s game.

But it was not! On a Sunday when the Jets beat the Buffalo Bills in the NFL, JEC applied its jets in the fourth quarter and changed the tenor of the game. Powered by junior G/F Gavi Walzman’s 12 points, the Thunder outscored Ohr Yisroel 21-10, and secured a well-deserved 59-46 victory.

The JEC scoring was exceptionally balanced. Cornick finished with 18 points; Walzman had 13; Junior G Eitan Speir and captain PG Yosef Heller each had 11 points; and captain C Akiva Sapieka had 10 points, including six fourth quarter points and 11 rebounds. Reuven Rozezadeh led the way for Ohr Yisroel with 14 points.

By Jewish Link Sportsdesk