The North Shore Lions might have conquered the Yeshiva League, but the season culmination and crown of North American Jewish high school basketball was handed out this past weekend at the annual Red Sarachek Memorial Tournament hosted at Yeshiva University. The Yeshiva League was well represented, with eight of the 24 teams in the tournament, displaying talents that have awed the metropolitan area, but this time on a greater stage.
After hard fought, yet unfortunate tier I losses on the first day of the tournament, the DRS Wildcats and TABC Storm placed into the second tier of action. Both teams had no issues in their tier II quarterfinal matchup, but the Storm would fall short to the Fuchs Mizrachi Mayhem in the semifinals, while the DRS Wildcats clinched a spot in the championship after a victory against the Berman Academy Cougars. The Mayhem successfully closed out the game and held the Wildcats short of their comeback to become the Tier II champions with Ephraim Blau taking home MVP honors due to his 22 point performance.
The JEC Thunder proved they should be an annual invite to the tournament, playing four games in the five day tournament, and managing two upsets against higher seeded teams to clinch a spot in the Tier III championship. In the title game, the Thunder were quick on their feet enabling them to seal the victory, with senior guard Yosef Heller taking home Tier III MVP for his exceptional play, while the above the rim play of Yechiel Kadosh and paint prowess of Michoel Cornick were also crucial to their success. Their appearance in the tournament marked their first showing in 11 years.
The success on the first day of the tournament nearly mirrored the yeshiva league playoffs, as the Frisch Cougars, Sar Sting, North Shore Lions and Magen David Warriors prevailed through tough fights to secure spots in tier I. Day two saw countless iconic Sarachek battles that came down to the wire that ultimately eliminated all but SAR, the lone yeshiva league team to be move on. The journey for the Sting continued into day three of the tournament, as they pulled off the biggest upset of the tourney by defeating the number one seeded Shalhevet Firehawks to advance to the title game.
Hungry for a championship victory, after coming up short for two consecutive years in the Yeshiva League playoffs and losing in last year’s Sarachek tier I semifinals, SAR faced the Valley Torah Wolfpack, 2022 Sarachek champions, with nearly all their important pieces from last year’s team in place. Despite being considered the underdogs, the Sting were determined to continue their hot streak and bring the Sarachek hardwood back to Riverdale for the first time since 2011.
The Sting jumped out to a quick 16-6 lead, thanks to the offensive firepower of Akiva Schanzer, and the defensive hustle of Gabe Sklar. After a timeout from Coach Schwartzberg, the Wolfpack came to life offensively, knocking down several long range shots in crunch time to minimize their deficit to one point at the half.
The teams traded baskets the entire third quarter, with Akiva Schanzer leading the way for SAR and Ethan List and Gabe R’bibo leading the scoring output to give the Wolfpack their first lead of the game going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter opened to much of the same, until the Wolfpack blew the game open in the final minutes of the game. Everything was going in the direction of the Wolfpack, whether it being the beyond the arc scoring of Noam Mayouhas and List, or Johny Dan and R’bibo controlling the boards on both ends of the court. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Wolfpack fans stormed the court to celebrate their second straight Sarachek title with a score of 56-48. This victory also marked a first in Sarachek Tournament history, with the MVP awarded to two very deserving players as Johny Dan and Noam Mayouhas were crowned co-MVPs.
Even though the Tier I Sarachek title was not secured by a Yeshiva League team, the exceptional performances of specific players did not go unrecognized. Nine YL players were selected to the tournament all star team which included: Gavriel Rudman-MTA, Alex Zakheim- Frisch, Akiva Sapieka- JEC, Ari Saffra and Aiden Buchbinder- DRS, David Orbach- North Shore, Benny Neuwirth and Andrew Helft- SAR, and Natanel Benloulou-TABC. Additionally, Frisch guard Isaac Schiffman, was the lone Yeshiva Leaguer represented on the tournament all-second team, while SAR’s Akiva Schanzer and Asher Melamed of Magen David headlined the tournament first team.
The Red Sarachek Tournament was a captivating way to end the basketball season, with an appreciation for coaches and the graduating seniors as well as having all eyes on next year’s potential for greatness.
Ikey Gutlove is the Jewish Link sports intern. Please contact [email protected] if you have interest in contributing to this column by providing stories and updates from any high school athletic teams.
