After last weekend’s exciting games, the 6-7-8 girls were psyched for “Championship Sunday,” played on Tuesday night in the Felman Gymnasium at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey. The game featuring @alislabel Ali’s Label Skirts (5-2) team vs the undefeated Balanced Body Rehabilitation (7-0) team did not disappoint the packed crowd that rushed out of work and braved holiday traffic on Route 4 to make the 6:30 weeknight start. Before the tip one of the refs dubbed the game “Sister Act.” The Rothchild sisters (Eva and Danielle) for Balanced Body vs the Ratner sisters (Paige and Nikki) for Ali’s Label Skirts was the match-up to watch going in. As if to prove the referee correct, the scoring burden was shouldered by the two sets of sisters, scoring a combined 59 of the game’s 79 points. The scoring was not the only story that night, however, as both teams exhibited terrific ball movement and sportsmanship. When the dust cleared, Balanced Body was crowned the champions and Daniella Rothchild was named the game’s MVP with a tremendous 26 point performance.
In the 3-4 division, the top two seeds, Tree Point Play and Rockwell Management, took the court less than twenty four hours after their exciting semi-final victories the night before. The game started as a defensive battle with little scoring in the first half. Tree Point Play took an early 7-5 lead at the half with Galil Neuer leading the way with four points, Liat Furer (four points total) with two and Tifi Teitelman adding one on a free throw. Rockwell Management was led by Sara Mirwis (seven points) who scored all of the team’s five points in the half. The second half was a different story with Tree Point Play taking charge in the third quarter, building a ten point lead. Liat Furer started the scoring with an early two points and Galil Neuer added 10 of her game high 18 points in the decisive period. Shana Markowitz scored four points for Rockwell Management. In the final period, Ilana Gilad and Sara Mirwis each had two points for Rockwell Management and Shifra Prager and Shifra Zahtz each had two points for Tree Point Play. Galil Neuer earned the MVP honors for her all around effort in the 27-13 victory..
The 2-3 championship game showcased the undefeated (7-0) team Chestnut Holdings vs the (5-2) Wolverines. Both teams were playing their second game of the day and expected the finale to be a battle to the end. The game saw many lead changes. Chestnut Holdings was up 10-9 at the end of the first, Alexandra Magence sank two free throws with less than a minute remaining. The first tied the game and the second put Chestnut Holdings ahead. The Wolverines were not rolling over. Behind an offensive outpouring from Orli Scharf, the Wolverines had a 14-13 lead at the end of the third quarter. Hannah Reider and Liana Kahan steered Chestnut Holdings ahead 19-16 in the fourth and looked to be on their way to a championship victory. The Wolverines Bailey Robinson sank a key shot to trim the lead to 19-18 and put everyone in the gym on the edge of their seats. In the end it came down to Magence, who found herself once again at the free throw line. Magence sank to first shot, giving Chestnut Holdings the 20-18 lead that would be the final score of this epic matchup.
After the game, one of the MGBL commissioners told The JLNJ, “We saw some terrific basketball today. What better way to end an amazing season.” As MGBL takes a much deserved week off, we would like to bid farewell to the following teams: Embroidme, Chestnut Holdings, The Purple Bow, Wolverines, Rockwell Management, Sharsheret, Balanced Body Rehabilitation and @alislabel Ali’s Label Skirts.
Congrats to all the girls on another amazing season.
