In an exciting high school basketball matchup at The Hive, the JV SAR Sting matched up against the Frisch Cougars. The last time they met, in November, Frisch was victorious by 23 points. SAR entered the game on a 3-game losing streak, having lost a close game at home to TABC, followed by road blowout losses at the hands of TABC and Ramaz. For Frisch, this was their second and last crack at guaranteeing they secure the 1-seed in the western conference and a first-round bye, having lost to TABC in their last game, in early January. SAR was down a starter, as captain Benji Salomon unfortunately went down with a knee injury suffered in practice a couple weeks prior, and knew they would need other players to step up.
It was a back-and-forth game in the early going, as both teams looked to score inside. SAR encountered early foul trouble, as star Nathan Wild picked up 2 fouls quickly, and needed to sit for much of the first half. With Wild on the bench, Max Weiss stepped up for the Sting on the offensive end, while Nathan Small held his own against Frisch’s dominant big Joseph Munoz. Frisch led 12-11 after one quarter, behind scoring from Natanel Bromberg and Judah Suss.
SAR went on a run to start the 2nd quarter behind the shooting of Weiss and slashing of Manu Wiebke, and went up 22-14. Their momentum was stemmed when an inadvertent subbing error led to only four men on the floor for SAR, and a subsequent odd technical foul call ensued. Frisch failed to capitalize at the line, and with Wild substituted back into the game, SAR went up 11. Strong efforts from Munoz and Jacob Gervis in the closing minutes before halftime brought the Frisch deficit down to 28-23 when the teams entered the locker rooms.
SAR started the second half strong and didn’t look back. They would close the 3rd period up 41-33 behind further scoring from Weiss, as Frisch failed to chip further into the Sting lead. The Cougars switched things up defensively in the 4th with full court pressure and some 3-2 zone. SAR struggled against the press initially, but was able to recover and attack the press for easy layups. Their 10+ point lead would prove too large for Frisch to overcome late, and the Sting closed out the impressive win, winning by a score of 66-53.
Max Weiss led all scorers with an impressive career-high 40 points, which is also the top-scoring mark in MYHSAL JV boy’s basketball this season. Nathan Wild was the next leading scorer for the Sting. For Frisch, Munoz and Gervis led the way in the points column.
SAR finishes the season 6-4 and will be the 5 seed, and travel to Teaneck for a third shot at TABC in the first round of the playoffs.
Frisch finishes their slate at 7-3 and secures a first-round bye in the playoffs.
