The Tier 1 Grand Finale of the 2017 Swish for Sderot Annual Eighth Grade Yeshiva Day School Boys Basketball Tournament took place on Sunday Dec. 10 on the campus of TABC. in Teaneck.
Despite the snow and icy temperatures, the six extremely competitive contests inside the TABC gym heated up and set up for a great grand finale and a display of great sportsmanship by all. The unique aspect of the day’s games was that all the teams from all over the tri-state area played against teams they do not play during the course of their regular season games.
The first quarter final matchup was between Magen David Yeshiva facing JEC. MDY raced out to a quick 17-6 lead in the opening half. JEC started to slow the game down and crept back into it and trailed by a score of 21-18 at halftime. MDY applied their full court pressure and opened up a 32-24 lead with nine minutes remaining in the game. JEC hung in there and, with a couple of threes, closed the gap to five points, with under a minute left. MDY hit their free throws and finally secured a 43-35 victory to move into the semi finals.
Leading scorers for MDY was Jack Cohen and Eli Dweck with 10 points each. Ikey Rozehzadeh led JEC with 15 points and was selected as the Tournament All Star from JEC. JEC’s coach, David Mandel, commented that “My team really enjoyed this Swish for Sderot format, which gave every team an opportunity to win the championship.”
The second quarter final game featured HAFTR versus Ramaz. This turned out to be one of the most competitive games of the day. The lead kept changing hands, and with 10 minutes left in the first half, HAFTR had a lead of 13-11. A three-pointer by Ramaz put them up 15-14, and Ramaz held a 25-20 halftime lead. Rubenstein scored six straight points to help Ramaz build the halftime advantage. In the second half, HAFTR started off with a 7-0 run and took a 27-25 lead. Ramaz kept chipping away, but HAFTR held a 32-30 lead with 11 minutes to go. A three by Ramaz put them up 33-32, which they opened up to 39-32 with six minutes left. HAFTR came right back and with a minute and a half left, Ambello hit a three that gave HAFTR a 40-39 lead. Ramaz answered with a free throw and with 40 seconds left and Cy Aminzadeh drove to the basket and scored to give Ramaz a 42-40 lead. Schwartz hit two free throws for Ramaz to secure the 44-40 victory.
Leading scorer for Ramaz was Julius Rubenstein with 15 points. Hymie Salem led HAFTR with 19 points and was selected as HAFTR’s Tournament All Star.
The third and final quarter final game pitted the Yeshivah of Flatbush against North Shore Hebrew Academy. North Shore raced out to an early 12-4 lead. YOF hung in there and was down 22-16 at halftime. At the start of the second half, North Shore scored a couple of three point shots and built their lead to 31-21. YOF then went on a 10-1 run and took a 32-31 lead. With four minutes left, YOF held a 37-35 lead. A three pointer by Saada pushed the lead to 40-35. A three by North Shore cut the lead to 43-40 but YOF held on for a 47-40 victory.
Leading scorer for YOF was Abie Saada with 19 points. Turock and Zuckerman each had 10 points for North Shore. Turock was selected as the All Star for North Shore.
The fourth game and the first semi final of the day had Ramaz face off against MDY. Ramaz started off very fast and built up a 19-2 lead in the first seven minutes of the game. MDY slowly climbed back and after two 3’s by Lati towards the end of the half, the score was 23-20 Ramaz. In the second half Ramaz went on a 9-2 run to open up a 32-20 lead. MDY came right back with a 6-0 run of their own to close the gap. With 10 minutes left, after Ramaz built up a 35-28 lead, MDY hit two threes to close the gap to 35-34. The teams traded baskets and Ramaz was finally able to win the game by 47-41 and secure a spot in the Tier 1 championship.
Aminzadeh led Ramaz with 21 points and David Sakkal led MDY with 10 points and was selected as their All Star. Benny Mann, Coach of MDY, expressed how much he and his team enjoyed the Swish for Sderot Tournament this year.
The second semi final was between YOF and the overall top seeded Moriah School who had a first round bye. Moriah proved to be on their game and raced out to a quick 17-5 lead. They extended the lead to 41-14 at halftime. In the second half YOF was able to play evenly with Moriah, but it was too little, too late, and Moriah secured a convincing 69-38 victory and moved into the championship game versus Ramaz.
Ben Haber led Moriah with 20 points and Michael Bijou led YOF with 9 points. Abie Saada was selected as the Tournament All Star from YOF.
The championship game was a classic that featured two powerhouse teams in Moriah and Ramaz. Ramaz raced out to an early 14-8 lead, only to see Moriah tie it at 15. Ramaz built a 22-17 lead, but Moriah scored five straight points and the game was tied at 22 at halftime. The second half Moriah raced out to a 31-25 lead. Ramaz stormed right back to pull within one. Ramaz finally took a 40-38 lead and once again Moriah came back to tie at 44 with 4:44 to go in the game. Moriah went on a 6-0 run and despite the valiant effort by Ramaz, Moriah completed their mission and defeated Ramaz by a final score of 53-49 to secure the Tier 1 championship.
Leading scorers for Ramaz were Morris Dabah and William Schwartz who were also selected as All Stars for Ramaz. Leading scorer and tournament MVP for Moriah was Ben Haber.
As stated by Judah and Carol Rhine, tournament coordinators and directors of American Friends of Sderot, “Since the first of November, 25 games have been played from Manhattan to Lawrence, from Woodmere to Englewood, from Elizabeth to Little Neck and Brooklyn, finally culminating in the grand finales in Teaneck. This has been quite a journey. To be able to interact and meet all of the administrators, coaches, parents and players in each of the schools, and to raise awareness and funds for the community and Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot, was a truly memorable experience. The feedback and support from everyone has been extremely positive and encouraging.”
