This past Sunday, the Yeshivat Noam Knight 7/8 Girls basketball team competed in a one day shootout tournament in Mendham Township, New Jersey. After having successfully completed their regular season YMSSA schedule with an undefeated record of 10-0, the team was ready for a tune-up prior to starting the postseason. The tournament consisted of four teams from around the New York metropolitan area, ranging from a school team from Hillsborough, New Jersey to an AAU team from New York City.
In the first action of the day, the Noam team took on the team from Hillsborough. During warm ups, many of the Noam parents in attendance noted that the Noam team would be at a distinct size disadvantage, for the first time this season, in this contest. The game got off to a slow start, but midway through the first half Noam started to pull away and build a ten point lead. However, the Hillsborough team would not go quietly and connected on several three pointers to pull even at the half.
After a strong speech by the Noam coach, Ariela Herman, during halftime, the Noam team came out determined in the second half to retake the lead. Led by ferocious play both at the point guard position and down low on defense and on the boards, Noam slowly pulled away and went on to win the first game of the day by double digits.
The way the schedule fell, the Noam team now had a two hour wait until the next game, during which time several girls took advantage of the nice weather to hang out outside, while the coaches and other players watched the next game to get a sense of their next competition. In the second game, the Harlem USA team came out strong and dominated the game with their ferocious pressing and easily defeated their competition, the NJ BT Cobras, to set up the championship game between Harlem and Noam. After watching the performance of the Harlem team, many of the Noam faithful were already preparing for a tough championship game and some were even resigned to the fact that the team might incur its first loss this season.
Prior to the start of the game, Coach Herman prepared her team, telling them to “go out and give it your best shot, and as long as you give it your all, we all go home happy, whether we win or lose.” However, this Noam team was only going to be happy with a victory and came out showing their fierce determination. Noam jumped to an early 4-0 lead, forcing the Harlem team to call a quick timeout. When play resumed, Noam continued to play tough defense and force the action. Noam depended on quick ball movement to swing to the open player for the quick shot and continued to rack up points. In addition, the Harlem team quickly found itself in foul trouble, as two of their top players were called for quick fouls. Noam took a lead into the half and prepared for a tough second half.
The second half became very physical as both teams played aggressive basketball. As the game wound down, Noam held on by sinking several free throws to keep the game out of reach. In addition to hitting their free throws, the Noam players also kept their poise, while the other team continued to try and rattle them and get in their heads. As the final seconds wound down, the Noam players realized they had once again reached down deep and fought hard for a well deserved victory. Even more importantly, they set a great example of what it means to win both on and off the court, by keeping their emotions in check and letting the game speak for itself.
