Last week’s quarterfinals of the CMEK Summer League saw Team Yachad facing Team Lucky 7s in an epic battle. In the final half, Yachad stared elimination in the face as Team Lucky 7s, led by Josh Malkin and Jonathan Marks, buried free throw after free throw as they tried to put Yachad away for good. Somehow Yachad managed to chip away at the lead and cut it to three with four seconds left in the game. That’s when Team Yachad’s Dan Poleyeff forced OT with a deep 3-pointer which started an incredible Yachad run.
“I believed throughout the season that we could come out on top,” said Poleyeff, who shared playoff MVP honors with Ari Mitnick. Poleyeff grew up in Englewood, went to Moriah and TABC, and now plays for the YU basketball team.
Mitnick, the co-MVP, was unstoppable offensively all season, especially in the finals. Mitnick hails from Englewood, and went to Frisch and MTA. In the championship game he took the smaller guys in the post and the bigger guys outside. Every one of his 29 points came in different fashion, and when he was doubled, he found the shooters who connected on ten 3-pointers.
Team Yachad’s swingman Dovid Katz was also an instrumental part of the team all season long. Katz, who grew up in Monsey, played basketball at MTA, and now resides in Teaneck, explained a little more about the team name. “Yachad in Hebrew means ‘together.’ Yachad, The National Jewish Council for Disabilities, is a wonderful global Jewish organization, promoting inclusion for children and adults with disabilities in the broader Jewish community. We have dedicated our team name to Yachad, since we completely support and stand behind their vision wholeheartedly. After all, ‘everyone belongs!’”
“Together” was indeed the difference. Yachad lived up to the team’s name, with a well executed strategic plan that they carried out to perfection.
Noam Block, the team’s catalyst, grew up, and currently lives, in Teaneck, went to school and played ball for Moriah, then TABC and then Yeshiva University. Block poured in 18 points and shared the team’s strategy.
“Our game plan was to slow the game down, get good shots, not turn the ball over and play tough defense. While they had size advantage, we felt that gave us our own mismatches we could exploit as well on offense. We tried to make that team take shots they didn’t want to take. If they had a guy who liked to dunk and take it in, we tried to turn him into shooter. If there was a guy who was shooter, we tried to make him drive. Lastly, big focus was everyone boxing out and crashing rebounds as we didn’t want to give them second chances.”
Ronnie Kimmel, who went to TABC and lives in Hillside, and is the current and two time Yeshiva League 3-point champion, hit a big layup down the stretch and swished two clutch free throws. Big man Josh Gottlieb contributed four big points early and grabbed big rebounds. Gottlieb is from Edison, went to RTMA and played for YU. Josh Schiffman, who was awesome throughout the season, went to Kushner, YU and Einstein Medical School. Schiffman’s stellar play in the high post and around the boards was a big reason the team chemistry was so strong. Team captain Benjy Singfer, who resides in Hillside and played for RTMA, led his team to the title when nobody thought it was possible.
In the championship game against Team VFP, Yachad managed to contain Team VFP’s star, Paul Little Jr. (who recently returned from Las Vegas as he was participating in a showcase for future NBA hopefuls), to a season low 10 points. Other than Pedro Burgos, former league MVP, who scored 33 points, every other player on Team VFP was held in check.
For the third straight time, there is a new league champion: Team Yachad.
CMEK runs various programs, clinics, travel teams, camps birthday parties and special events for boys and girls of all ages in Paramus, Teaneck, Tenafly, Englewood and Cresskill. The Men’s League runs in the fall, winter, spring and summer and features divisions for players of varying experience. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.CMEK.com.
By JLNJ Sports Desk
