Under the guidance and leadership of Coach Eli Wolk, the RYNJ Jaguars defeated the Hillel Heat, 57 to 39, and became the first team in RYNJ eighth grade boys history to advance to the championship game. The game opened up with the Jaguars clearly feeling the pressure but within the first two minutes, they settled down and remembered what got them there—defense,  defense, defense. Ami “Hooch” Hochbaum asserted his dominance on the wing defense, blocking multiple 3-point attempts and grabbing numerous rebounds. Motti Stein was an animal on the boards and exceptionally defended Hillel’s best player. Shai Bickell’s aggressiveness set the tone and Tani Stein put in a stellar performance finishing with a strong 13 points including a pivotal block on defense and turning it into an and-1 opportunity on the offensive side. They even got a strong contribution from the bench including key buckets from Solli Leizerson.

Hillel tried their best to claw back with Coach Ashkenazi rallying his troops and their #1 player Joe Mizrahi putting in a solid 17 points and Yosef Smeke adding four second half 3-pointers. But in the end, the Jags leading scorer, Ezra Adams, always had an answer finishing with a game high 23 points including 10 in the fourth quarter. As with all of Coach Wolk’s teams, the Jags came prepared, determined and focused and will be taking all of those characteristics to the championship game scheduled for March 10, at TABC.