This summer I had the privilege of representing the JCC of the Palisades in 14U division Maccabi games in Orange County, California. The team consisted of some Bergen County’s top 14-year-old ball players: Isaac Blumenthal, Zac Commet, Evan Froman, Elie Kern, David Lifshitz, Creg Rosen, Yisroel Soloman, Ben Stein, Daniel Wisotsky and myself. The five days we spent as a team made up one of the best experiences of our lives.

We ran the table during the first two days of competition, defeating teams from Miami, Toronto, Boca Raton and Palm Beach. Our undefeated record earned us a first round bye in the playoffs. In the second round we beat a very talented Metro-west team; we were rewarded with a spot the Final Four. The semifinals game matched up against the top seeded team from Los Angeles. We entered the game as the decided underdogs and knew we were going to have to play our best to come away with a victory. Unfortunately, things just didn’t go our way, we lost the game and our quest for the gold came to an end. We finished out the afternoon with a game against a team from Chicago in the bronze medal game. The game was close throughout and came down to the final seconds. The Chicago team took the game and the bronze medal.

Even though we went home without a medal, this was an invaluable experience; it was a thrill to compete against and meet elite players from all over the country.

By Noah Greenblatt

By Noah Greenblatt