The West Orange Cobras—a boys basketball team made up of 9 and 10-year-old private school students, including Kushner and JEC—have made it to the Township’s Mountaintop League championship game.

Though the team was 8-1 going into the semi-finals, they knew they had their hands full with the Redwood Ramblers, the only team that had beaten them this season. In the regular season game against the Ramblers, the teams went toe-to-toe for three quarters, trading layups, three point shots and defensive steals. But the Ramblers pulled away in the fourth quarter, using their speed and significant height advantage to take a lead that they did not relinquish.

But in the rematch of the semis, the Cobras did more than flip the script. They came out of the gate scoring, took a quick 6-point lead and never looked back. “The team played hard on both ends of the court. They passed, they scored and they played phenomenal defense. I couldn’t be more proud,” said Coach Joe Rozehzadeh, whose children, Rami and Reuven, are key players on the team. Joining the Rozehzadehs, who attend JEC, are Sean Felderman, Nathan Nussbaum, Nathan Pedoeem and Koby Yolin, who all attend Kushner, as well as Jesse, Matthew and Quentin who attend other local schools.

The team has been led by top scorer Rami Rozehzadeh for about 30 points per game, Reuven Rozehzadeh and Nathan Nussbaum’s 10 points per game and Sean Felderman’s outstanding defense.