Last week, in a grueling and well-played game that opened the evening, the JEC/RTMA Thunder junior varsity forced the TABC Storm into overtime with a clutch last second 3-pointer from sophomore SG Sholom Dershowitz that had the crowd gasping.
In the overtime session, sophomore SG Dovid Reiser took over and, together with freshman PG Moshe Heller, scored time and again; he nailed crucial free throws and lead the JV Thunder to a 49-44 upset win. They are now 4-2 in the tough West Division.
In the varsity game between JEC/RTMA and TABC, the Thunder knew that defense would allow the Thunder to stay in the game, make their trademark 3’s and convert foul shots to make it a contest.
As has been its practice for most of the season, JEC/RTMA started the game strongly and built a 14-7 lead. That early bulge was built on the tenacity and sharpshooting of senior captain PG Shmaryahu Shulman, who scored 7 points. Aided by treys from senior PF Marc Shapiro and junior SG Ranaan Kimmel, the Thunder seemed to be on their way.
In the second period senior PF Yoni Apsan nailed a trey, and the Thunder gained another 5 points from S. Shulman. Still, the Storm began to chip away, narrowing the gap to 22-16 at the half, and it was anyone’s game.
Out of the locker, TABC’s press was feared, but once again, the Thunder was decisively breaking the Storm press. Captain PF Jacob Feiler bombed two of his trademark treys, and Apsan contributed two more buckets. Still, TABC further narrowed the lead to a manageable 5 points, 35-30 JEC, going into the final period.
A comeback was in the air. TABC tried valiantly, led by senior PG Ty Gerszberg’s dazzling drives and body control layups. The back and forth was heart-stopping. After yet another Feiler 3-bomb, TABC got the Thunder lead down to 4 points with 2:03 to play. The Thunder had possession. TABC had to foul in order to force JEC/RTMA to the foul line, in the hope the Thunder would miss the front ends of 1-1’s, and the Storm could regain possession. The problem with that strategy was that the Thunder player handling the ball was mostly PG S. Shulman, and fouling him proved to be fruitless.
S. Shulman went 9-10 from the foul line in the final period. Every time TABC seemed to have a bead on the win, S. Shulman was fouled, most of the time strategically. Despite the pressure of the huge crowd eager to “WHOOSH” as he would nail the shots, S. Shulman hit the FT’s and the Thunder was able to hold on to a 2-possession game for the entire final period.
With Shulman’s heroics, JEC/RTMA matched TABC point for point, 17-17. The JEC/RTMA Thunder closed out the game and beat TABC, 52-47. The crowd stormed the newly redesigned and rebuilt JEC/RTMA court, and the game was in the books. With the win, JEC/RTMA moved its league record to 6-1, and 9-2 overall.
