YULA Wins Overtime Thriller Over Ida Crown; Shalhevet Is Shocked by TABC in OT

For the last five years, the winner of the Red Sarachek Tournament, the country’s most prestigious tournament for Jewish high school basketball teams, has been from Los Angeles . But after No. 6 Valley Torah (the two-time defending champion) was upset by No. 11 Beth Tfiloh 66-59 on Thursday despite some impressive outside shooting by the Wolfpack. No. 4 seed Shalhevet lost an overtime stunner and to No. 5 Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC). Only the No. 2 seed,  Yeshiva University Los Angeles High School (YULA) was able to eke out a win  against No. 7, Ida Crown.

Ida Crown, seen as a major underdog, played with a frantic energy and led 29-22 at the half, powered by the great outside shooting of senior Moshe Wiesenberg.  YULA came back in the second half, but with the clock winding down, the

team was down by three points after Ida Crown’s Avi Meyer caught a pass midair and laid the ball in.

But Alex Gabbay, YULA’s junior guard, hit an impressive three pointer from the right side (it would have a three in the NBA) and tied the game with about 20-seconds left. In overtime, down 48-46, YULA’s Judah Robin tied the game with a nifty layup. Yoni Holender made a dramatic three-pointer from the right side. Robin added another layup, and Ida Crown scored. YULA’s Yishai Rosenblatt used his athleticism to catch an errant pass that was heading out of bounds. He was fouled and hit one of two free throws. After a forced turnover, Robin added two free throws and one more from the charity stripe byGabbay gave the Panthers and unforgettable 75-52 win.

“We went into halftime knowing there’s not going to be a 10-point shot. We had to cherish every possession and it starts on defense.” Yoni Holender, YULA Guard.

“Honestly, I felt really good that possession. I don’t want to say but I kind of felt like I need to step up,” Gabbay told Akiva Poppers on the macslive.com broadcast. “We went into halftime knowing there’s not going to be a 10-point shot. We had to cherish every possession and it starts on defense.”

Holender told Poppers that their coach said not to focus on the score but on each play.

YULA coach Mike Pollack pushed the right buttons in the end and graduated from YULA in 2003. YULA advances to the semifinal to take place on Sunday against No. 3 Flatbush at 1:30 p.m. EST and can be viewed on macslive.com

In Shalhevet’s game, the team was ahead 20-13 at the half against TABC. The Firehawks played great defense but TABC junior Eyal Kinderlehrer made some timely free throws to tie the game at 33 with 4.5 seconds left.  Speedy Shalhevet guard Aiden Bitran went the length of the court and it looked like a difficult layup might go in and the buzzer but it didn’t fall.

In overtime, TABC edged out Shalhevet, coming oout on top of the final 39-36 schore. All four macslive.com analysts had predicted a Shalhevet victory, which was a bounce of a ball away from happening as the buzzer sounded marking the end of regulation. Shalhevet defeated DRS on Thursday 58-50. Shalhevet will play Maimonodes in the Tier I consolation game while Valley Torah will take on MTA in Tier II competition.