Yeshiva League Playoff Picture - Boys

All 12 playoff teams - six in each conference - are known but only three are locked into spots. North Shore H.A. clinched the top seed and a bye in the East; Flatbush is the #4 seed in the East; and Hillel is the #4 seed in the West. And SAR knows it has a bye in the West.

The top two teams in each conference earn byes in the opening round, which matches up teams within each conference (#3 vs #6, #4 vs #5).

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 - North Shore H.A. (13-0)

#2 and #3 - If DRS (10-3) beats North Shore or Magen David (9-4) loses to TABC the Wildcats get the nod.

If DRS loses and Magen David wins, Warriors get #2 and the bye based on head-to-head tiebreaker (They split, but Magen David won by 5 points and DRS by only 2).

If Magen David loses and finishes 9-5 like Flatbush, they still hold on to #3. They split with Flatbush but Magen David won by 15 and Falcons by only 3.

#4 - Flatbush (9-5)

#5 and #6 - HAFTR (7-6) secures #5 seed with win over MTA or a Waterbury Yeshiva (6-7) loss to Hillel. Waterbury takes #5 if they win and HAFTR loses based on season-opening win over the Hawks.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 and #2 - Frisch (11-2) gets the top seed with a win over Ramaz, Frisch sweeping the two games with SAR (12-2) over the past week. SAR wins division if Frisch loses.

If Frisch loses and TABC (10-3) beats Magen David, the head to head tiebreaker would be even and they’d go to strength of schedule, which TABC would win and drop Frisch to #3.

#3 Likely TABC but possibly Frisch

If TABC loses to Magen David and Hillel (9-4) beats Waterbury, TABC wins the head to head tiebreaker and keeps Hillel at #4.

#4 - Hillel

#5 and #6 - JEC (7-6) gets #5 with a win over Ohr Yisroel or a Ramaz (6-7) loss to Frisch. Ramaz gets #5 if they beat Frisch and JEC loses based on head to head tiebreaker.

National Results - Girls - Feb. 2, 2023

HAFTR INVITATIONAL

Flatbush 47 HAFTR 45

Paulette Saada hit two free throws with :00.1 left to win it for the Falcons. The game doubled as their regular season finale and Flatbush must settle for 3rd place in the East because they needed to win by more than three points to overtake the Hawks for 2nd. Merle Kassab led the Falcons with 21 points and Saada and Sarah Siri each added 11.

Berman H.A. 60 Ma’ayanot 47

The #9 Rapids (8-5) led by as many as nine points in the first half and by five at halftime but the #5 Cougars (18-4) used a 17-6 3rd quarter to take control and win their 14th straight game. Ayelet Ostrin led Ma’ayanot with 20 points.

North Shore H.A. 40 Ramaz 39

Sophia Hajibai hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lions (5-8) the win over the #12 Rams (10-9). Hajibai led North Shore with 15 points. Molly Hiltzik had 15 for Ramaz.

HANC 53 Jewish Culture 19

MIDATLANTIC

Barrack H.A. 59 Renaissance 28

The #6 Cougars (14-7) won their sixth straight game behind 23 points from Eden Singer and 16 from Mikayla Trajtenberg.

Beth Tfiloh Chapelgate

NORTHEAST

Golda Och 27 Technology 24

Aly Biloon led the Roadrunners (4-9) with 10 points.

SOUTHEAST

Horeb Christian 81 Donna Klein Jewish Academy 10

The Eagles (8-4) fell to the top seed in the final of the 2A-15 district playoffs.

MIDWEST

Rochelle Zell Providence St. Mel

WEST

Training Center Christian 48 Hyman Brand H.A. 45

Shira Pellegrino scored 14 points and Illy Hammer added 11 for the Rams (6-7).

CALIFORNIA

Oakwood 56 YULA 37

Kira Heumann scored 17 points and Alexa Heumann added 10 for the #8 Panthers (15-13).

International JCHS San Francisco

YESHIVA LEAGUE

Frisch 68 Hillel 34

The #4 Cougars (11-1; 15-2) wrapped up the regular season with their sixth straight win. The Heat fall to 3-8.

National Results - Boys - Feb. 2, 2023

MIDATLANTIC

Berman H.A. 76 Don Bosco 44

Asher Falk scored 24 points and Alex August and Benjy Sussman each added 11 as the #21 Cougars (18-12) won their third straight game.

Beth Tfiloh 51 Cristo Rey 49

Michael Cohen scored 15 points and Eli Wahlberg had 12 to lead the Warriors (17-10).

NORTHEAST

Leffell 82 Children’s Village 33

Joe Schanzer scored 37 points, Will Hirsch added 18 and Jascha Weiss had 10 led the Lions (7-9) to their third straight win.

West Caldwell Tech 52 Golda Och 22

Noam Waknin led the Roadrunners (6-10) with 8 points.

SOUTHEAST

H.A. Miami 68 Bridgeprep 41

Ben Farkas scored 22 points and Daniel Pollack added 14 for the Warriors

Weber Atlanta 66 Paideia 62

The Rams are 7-11.

MIDWEST

Chicago Hope 62 Rochelle Zell 37

The #14 Tigers fell to 7-5.

Cabrini 71 Frankel Jewish Academy 54

Jaguars are now 4-8.

Columbus Torah Academy vs Oakstone

WEST

Hyman Brand H.A. 79 Training Center Christian 63

Riley Ellis scored 36 points, Judah Schuster added 24 and Teddy Zitron had 13 to lead the Rams (6-5).

Beren Houston 65 Living Stones 47

Jonnie Katz scored 26 points and Rafi Miller added 10 for the Stars (5-11).

Northwest Yeshiva HS 83 Quilcene 60

Damiel Negrin scored 25 points and Joe Benoliel added 24 to lead the Lions (5-9).

Emery Weiner Fort Bend Christian

Denver Academy of Torah Vanguard Classical

CALIFORNIA

Oakwood 87 YULA 67

Alex Gabay scored 26 points, Josh Barak added 13 and Judah Robin had 11 but the #4 Panthers (20-11) dropped their third straight game.

Liberty Charter 55 SCY High 53

Hawks drop to 3-14.

Rock Academy 65 San Diego Jewish Academy 27

Alex Gilbert led the Lions (8-13) with 12 points.

International 70 JCHS San Francisco 43

Wolves fall to 4-15.

Kehillah Jewish 70 Summit Prep 59

Rams are now 8-3.

YESHIVA LEAGUE

Frisch 58 SAR 48

Isaac Schiffman scored 19 points and Alex Zakheim added 18 as the #8 Cougars (11-2; 15-7) beat the #5 Sting (11-2; 18-4) for the second time in a week and took over 1st place in the West. Akiva Schanzer scored 23 points for SAR.

Flatbush 66 YDE 36

Beni Keda scored 16 points, Sam Jemal added 12 and Zach Hassoun had 10 to lead the #17 Falcons (9-5; 10-6). The loss for the Thunder (4-9; 5-11) officially eliminated them from playoff contention and clinched a playoff spot for Waterbury Yeshiva.

Magen David 70 Waterbury Yeshiva 33

Mark Sarder and Asher Melamed each scored 14 points for the #5 Warriors (9-3; 17-4). The Wolfpack (6-7) clinched the last playoff spot with YDE’s loss and can still finish in 5th if they beat Hillel and HAFTR loses to MTA.

HAFTR hosting girls varsity tournament

The annual HAFTR Invitational Girls Varsity Tournament tips off Thursday night in Cedarhurst.

The Hawks will host Berman Hebrew Academy from Maryland, the Jewish Culture High School of Miami and Yeshiva League teams Flatbush, HANC, Ma’ayanot, North Shore Hebrew Academy and Ramaz.

Five of the teams - #5 Berman, #9 Ma’ayanot, #12 Ramaz, #14 HAFTR and #15 Flatbush - are in Jewish Hoops America’s National Top 18 released for the first time Thursday.

Each team will play three preliminary games before Shabbot to determine seeding. Quarterfinals are Saturday night, with winners going into Tier 1 and losers into Tier 2. The semifinals and finals are on Sunday.

All games will be broadcast live at https://www.youtube.com/@HAFTRAthletics

Tournament Schedule:

Thursday

7:00 - HAFTR vs Flatbush; Jewish Culture vs HANC
8:30 - Berman H.A. vs Ma’ayanot; Ramaz vs North Shore H.A.

Friday

9:00 - HAFTR vs Jewish Culture; Berman H.A. vs Ramaz
10:30 - North Shore H.A. vs Ma’ayanot; Flatbush vs HANC
12:00 - Jewish Culture vs Ramaz; HAFTR vs Berman H.A.
1:30 - HANC vs North Shore H.A.; Flatbush vs Ma’ayanot

Saturday

8:30 pm - #1 vs #8; #3 vs #6
10:00 pm - #2 vs #7; #4 vs #5

Sunday

9:00 - Tier 2 Semifinals
10:30 - Tier 1 Semifinals
12:00 - Tier 2 Final
1:30 - Championship

National Top 18 - JHA Girls rankings

It took a long time but we finally have an in-season national ranking of Jewish Hoops America girls teams and here it is.

This is still a work in progress in many ways - how many teams we rank, who ranks them, chief among the ways. For now there is a panel of coaches, ADs and girls basketball observers. It’s not yet opened up more widely until we know there’s a groundswell of people across the country paying attention to all the programs out there.

We picked 18 because that’s how many teams got votes - and its quirky and Jewish, so maybe we’ll stick with it.

National Top 18
Jewish Hoops America
Feb. 1, 2023
Games through Jan. 31

Team……………………………………………………..Record

1.Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA…………………24-1
2.SKA/Hewlett,NY……………………………………12-0
3.Tanenbaum CHAT/Toronto,ON………….21-1
4.Frisch/Paramus,NJ………………………………..14-2
5.Berman H.A./Rockville,MD………………….17-4
6.Barrack H.A./Bryn Mawr,PA…………………13-7
7.Ida Crown/Skokie,IL……………………………..12-2
8.YULA/Los Angeles,CA…………………………15-12
9.Ma’ayanot/Teaneck,NJ…………………………8-4
10.Jewish Day School/Rockville,MD………14-5
11.Milken/Los Angeles,CA……………………….9-12
12.Ramaz/New York,NY…………………………..10-8
13.SAR/Bronx,NY………………………………………10-6
14.HAFTR/Cedarhurst,NY………………………..13-3
15.Flatbush/Brooklyn,NY…………………………9-4
16.Yavneh/Dallas,TX………………………………..20-7
17.Hebrew Academy/Miami Beach,FL…..9-7
18.Fuchs Mizrachi/Beachwood,OH………10-9