Valley Torah junior Johny Dan and Coach Lior Schwartzberg have won the top Jewish Hoops America awards for 2021-22 after leading the Wolfpack to their first ever #1 final ranking in the JHA Top 25.
Dan, the Player of the Year, was JHA’s top scorer this season at 26.5 points per game, including five games over 40 points. Schwartzberg wins his first Coach of the Year award after the Wolfpack went 36-4, reached the CIF Division 4 state semifinals and won the Sarachek Tournament for the first time.
The Underclassman of the Year award goes to Harry Kitey, a sophomore at Weber School in Atlanta.
This is the 15th year Jewish Hoops America has given out end of season awards, with voting by more than three dozen coaches.
Dan was the state Division 4 Player of the Year, won the John Wooden Award as the best player in CIF Southern Section D4 and was the Most Valuable Player at Sarachek. He beat out Shalhevet junior Avi Halpert, making it the second straight time that players from Los Angeles were the top two vote-getters in the balloting for JHA Player of the Year.
Joining Dan and Halpert on the 1st Team All-Jewish Hoops America are seniors Yoel Kintzer of Northwest Yeshiva High School, Noah Ohayon of Yavneh Dallas and Julius Rubinstein of Ramaz.
The 2nd Team includes DRS senior Ari Ivry; junior Gavin Foonberg of Denver Jewish Day; senior Jonathan Levy of Katz Yeshiva HS; senior Zach Rosen of Rochelle Zell; and junior Elliot Braha of Hillel.
Making the 3rd Team are: Ephraim Blau, a junior at Fuchs Mizrachi; Milken senior Noah Carmona; Frisch junior Alex Zakheim; Haimy Salem, a senior at HAFTR; and Hillel Miami senior Daniel Abbo.
It was the third time (Tarbut v Torah, 2010; DRS, 2016) that a school had the #1 team in the JHA rankings and both the Player and Coach of the Year.
Schwartzberg beat out Ramaz’s Scott Ferguson, who led the Rams to the Yeshiva League championship in his first year at the school. The other finalists were: Ashford Jackson of Northwest Yeshiva High School; Michael Foonberg of Denver Jewish Day; DRS’ Avrum Stein; and Zac Katz of Fuchs Mizrachi.
Kitey led the Weber Rams in scoring as a sophomore and this summer was a key contributor on the U.S. Under 16 squad that brought home gold from the Maccabi Games in Israel.
He beat out Valley Torah’s sharpshooting soph Ethan List. Had List won, it would have been the first time one team swept the top three individual JHA awards.
Other finalists for Underclassman of the Year, all sophomores, were HAFTR’s Kevin Levy; Riley Ellis of Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy; Netanel Jacobs of Fuchs Mizrachi; and Ida Crown’s Jakob Wortman.
1st Team All Jewish Hoops America
Johny Dan, Jr., Valley Torah/Valley Village,CA
Avi Halpert, Jr., Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA
Yoel Kintzer, Sr., Northwest Yeshiva HS/Mercer Island,WA
Noah Ohayon, Sr., Yavneh Academy/Dallas,TX
Julius Rubinstein, Sr., Ramaz/New York,NY
2nd Team All Jewish Hoops America
Ari Ivry, Sr., DRS/Woodmere,NY
Gavin Foonberg, Jr., Denver Jewish Day/Denver,CO
Jonathan Levy, Sr., Katz YHS/Boca Raton,FL
Zachary Rosen, Sr., Rochelle Zell/Deerfield,IL
Elliot Braha, Jr., Hillel/Ocean,NJ
3rd Team All Jewish Hoops America
Ephraim Blau, Jr.., Fuchs Mizrachi/Beachwood,OH
Noah Carmona, Sr., Milken/Los Angeles,CA
Alex Zakheim, Jr., Frisch/Paramus,NJ
Haimy Salem, Sr., HAFTR, Cedarhurst,NY
Daniel Abbo, Sr., Scheck Hillel Community/North Miami Beach,FL
Honorable Mention All Jewish Hoops America
Cy Aminzadeh, Sr., Ramaz/New York,NY
Hillel Baynash, Sr., Yavneh Academy/Dallas,TX
Netanel Benloulou, Jr., TABC/Teaneck,NJ
Ari Ben Porat, Sr., Fasman Yeshiva/Skokie,IL
Josh Brody, Sr., SAR/Bronx,NY
Mikal Biton, Sr., Posnack Jewish Day/Davie,FL
Ariel Diner, Sr., Beren Academy/Houston,TX
Allie Dweck, Sr., Magen David/Brooklyn,NY
Asher Falk, Jr., Berman Hebrew Academy/Rockville,MD
Michael Galeck, Sr., deToledo/West Hills,CA
Ben Haber, Sr., Frisch/Paramus,NJ
Harry Kitey, So., Weber School/Atlanta,GA
Nathan Kushnir, Sr., Rochelle Zell/Deerfield,IL
Josh Lipman, Jr., Kehillah/Palo Alto,CA
Noam Mayouhas, Jr., Valley Torah/Valley Village,CA
Lior Melnikov, Sr., Emery Weiner/Houston,TX
Asher Melamed, Jr., Magen David/Brooklyn,NY
Josh Posnock, Sr., San Diego Jewish Academy/San Diego,CA
Josh Saks, Sr., Maimonides/Brookline,MA
Isaac Solomon, Jr., DRS/Woodmere,NY
Isaac Tawil, Sr., YDE/Brooklyn,NY
Final JHA National Top 25
1.Valley Torah/Valley Village,CA……………….36-4
2.DRS/Lawrence,NY……………………………………15-4
3.SAR/Bronx,NY ………………………..………...….…17-4
4.TABC/Teaneck,NJ … ….………..……….……....20-6
5.Ramaz/New York,NY……………………..……..22-5
TieShalhevet/Los Angeles,CA ………..…...28-11
7.Posnack Jewish Day/Davie,FL………….14-5
8.Yavneh Academy/Dallas,TX……………25-7
9.Magen David/Brooklyn,NY …..………..15-7
10.Flatbush/Brooklyn,NY………………………13-12
11.Rochelle Zell/Deerfield,IL…………………18-4
12.Frisch/Paramus,NJ …………………….………16-10
13.Jewish Day School/Rockville,MD….…13-7
14.Ida Crown/Chicago,IL……………………….15-9
15.Berman HA/Rockville,MD…………………18-12
16.Milken/Los Angeles,CA…………………..13-10
17.MTA/New York,NY………………………………12-8
18.Katz YHS/Boca Raton,FL……….…………11-10
19.Northwest Yeshiva/Mercer Island,WA..18-8
20.Denver Jewish Day/Denver,CO……..17-3
21.Fuchs Mizrachi/Beechwood,OH……….18-6
22.HAFTR/Cedarhurst,NY…………………….…11-13
23.Hebrew Academy/Miami Beach,FL….11-11
24.YDE/Brooklyn,NY…………………………….….9-9
25.Hillel/Ocean,NJ………………………………….10-12
Past Players of the Year
2020/2021 Albert Fallas, YULA/Zev Remer, Shalhevet
2019 Judah Oppenheimer, SAR
2018 Ryan Turell, Valley Torah
2017 Bryan Knapp, Jewish Day School
2016 Gabriel Leifer, DRS
2015 Josh Newlander, Chicagoland Jewish (now Rochelle Zell)
2014 Josh Newlander, Chicagoland Jewish
2013 Zach Yoshor, Beren Houston
2012 Jack Gindi, YULA
2011 Yisroel Feld, MTA/Jack Gindi, YULA
2010 Eric Avdee, Tarbut vTorah
2009 Eitan Chemerinski, Jewish Day School
2008 Jordan Marcus, Schechter NJ (now Golda Och)
2007 Solomon Schoonover, Hillel Miami
Past Coaches of the Year
2020/2021 David Zimmerman, Yavneh Dallas
2019 Evan Pickman, Heschel
2018 Ryan Coleman, Shalhevet
2017 Mike Whiting, Milken
2016 Avrum Stein, DRS
2015 Joe Schwartz, Frisch
2014 Dwight Hollins, Fuchs Mizrachi
2013 Marty Dello, Chicagoland Jewish (now Rochelle Zell)
2012 Richard Lewis, Cooper Memphis
2011 Rafi Halpert, SAR
2010 Patrick Roberts, Tarbut vTorah
2009 Elliot Steinmetz, HANC
2008 Howard Braun, Ida Crown
2007 Howard Braun, Ida Crown
