Motzei Shabbos April 26th marked the end of a long journey for the boys of the 7th and 8th grade MGBL. After many hours of practices and games, the packed gym at Ben Porat Yosef was treated to a game worthy of all the buildup.
Team Confie Seguros, led by Eitans, Warburg, and Pfeifer were lethal in the open court from outside or with their big guys in the paint. However, the Teaneck Councilman Schwartz and Stern team, anchored by the scoring of Binyamin Senter and Meir Uretsky, was a more than formidable opponent. The Councilmen have earned a reputation around the league as a gritty hard working team, diving after loose balls and sacrificing their bodies to keep every possession. Would their hustle be enough to handle the tremendous fire power of Confie Seguros?
As you can imagine, most spectators came to the game expecting an offensive outpouring, but as Councilman Coach Rabbi Yehuda Rosenbaum predicted in our pregame talk “it’s going to come down to defense.” From the opening tip, the two defensive strategies were almost similar: take the top scorers out of the game and make the rest of the team beat us.
After a slow start Team Confie came alive at the end of the first and finished the first frame up 10-2. The Councilmen fought hard and forced many turnovers, but on that night the ball just wasn’t falling for them. Confie took a 16-6 lead into the half with Team Councilmen scoring only one field goal in the first half. Confie’s big guys, led by MVP Zeve Kornwasser, dominated the boards and did not allow the Councilmen many second-chance opportunities.
After a motivating halftime speech, the Councilmen came out in the third quarter with renewed vigor. Meir Uretsky and Eric Gulich hit a few shots to make it interesting. But the switching matchup zone of Confie Seguros kept the Councilmen’s scorer Senter away from the hoop and didn’t afford him any good looks.
Team Confie sealed the game with a beautiful shot from bar mitzvah-boy Shmuel Gopin, and everyone walked away a winner with trophies.
Thank you to the boys for playing their hearts out, the coaches for volunteering so much of their time, the sponsors for supporting the league, and to all of the fans that came out to watch the game (you guys were loud!!).
Registration for MGBL high school is still open, but spots are filling fast. Iif you or someone you know wants to play, sign up ASAP at mgbl.org.
