The Emunah-sponsored Rubenstein Tournament, the premier JV basketball tournament of the year, took place this past week. The tournament was conceived in memory of Rabbi Jacob and Deborah Rubenstein who were tragically killed in a fire in their home seven years ago. The rabbi and his wife, among their many charitable endeavors, had led a mission to Israel with the Young Israel of Scarsdale years ago and had become very connected to Emunah’s Bet Elazraki’s Childrens Home. The Rubenstein Campus of Bet Elazraki was recently dedicated in their memory. Bet Elazraki is an incredible organization and all of the money raised from this tournament is donated to the home. The tournament shines a light on both the legacy of Rabbi and Mrs. Rubenstein and the great work of Emunah and Bet Elazraki.
The championship run began on Tuesday, November 11th, with a win at Hanc. The game was close throughout against a scrappy Hanc squad until TABC pulled away late as a result of the strong playing of Eitan Gerszberg and Co-Captain Andrew Haberman.
Thursday night at TABC they faced the JEC Thunder who they recently played a close game against in league play. TABC was roaring from the opening tipoff, starting on a 20-2 run behind the excellent all-around play of Co-Captain Mo Proctor and superb team play overall. TABC cruised to a big win at home, setting them up to play the vaunted Flatbush Falcons in the first ever semi-final of the Rubenstein Tournament. What ensued that Saturday night was a tough physical game that was close the whole way. In the late fourth quarter, Eitan Gerszberg hit two huge foul shots to put TABC up by 4 as they closed out Flatbush 55-51. Mo Proctor lit up the scoreboard with 31 and played tough defense on star big man Abie Rosow. Freshmen Yoni Fine and Efraim Saks both performed well with Saks passing the ball extremely well and Fine playing tough defense.
On Sunday, TABC came in to SAR High School to take on the SAR Sting in the Rubinstein Memorial Tournament championship game. It was a tough game from the get-go with both teams playing smothering defense. Co-Captain Andrew Haberman helped TABC get off to a commanding early lead with his ability to get to the basket. Emerging star Daniel Wisotsky then carried the SAR Sting on his back for most of the game while TABC’s guards Meir Jacobs, who played well offensively as well as great defense on Wisotsky, and Efraim Saks’ contributions on both sides of the floor helped TABC keep the game close. But as the game went into the final minutes TABC had built itself a small lead. The Sting came fighting back. The clutch 3-point shooting of SAR forward Dovie Marcus and free throw shooting of Daniel Wisotsky put SAR up by 3 with 6.5 seconds remaining in the game. Mo Proctor who was held in check with 8 points the whole night by an incredible SAR defense took the ball the ball the length of the court and hit a well contested fade away buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, Procter took over going on an 11-2 run on his own and TABC finished off SAR in a tough win 57-50. After reaching the Rubenstein Tournament finals for the fourth year in a row, TABC finally won in an instant classic that will be remembered for what is now known simply as “The Shot”. Overall, it was a team effort the whole way through that resulted in a great W.
