Denver Jewish Day Tigers win Colorado state title

District 8 ruled this year in the CHSAA 1A state playoffs, but it was Denver Jewish Day that came out on top to win its first ever state championship.

The Tigers beat their district rival Belleview Christian 55-42 Saturday night, their eighth straight win to wrap up a 22-3 season. Ilan Schinagel led Denver Jewish Day with 25 points, including 12 in the 4th quarter, and Gavin Foonberg added 14.

“I have been dreaming of this moment since I stepped on the court as a (junior varsity) player,” Schinagel told CHSAANow.com. “It’s just unreal. We came together as one and brought it home.”

The win capped an exciting playoff weekend in Jewish Hoops America, with Shalhevet on Friday becoming the first Jewish girls team to ever win a California state championship. The only other boys team to ever win a state basketball title was the Yavneh Dallas Bulldogs when they took home the TAPPS 3A title in 2020.

Before the Colorado title game the teams split a pair of games this season. Belleview Christian won in the final game of the regular season and the Tigers returned the favor in the district championship game. Despite that outcome, the Bruins were given the top seed in the 1A playoffs and Denver Jewish Day settled for #2.

The Tigers won their first three playoff games with ease but trailed by 15 late in the 2nd quarter of their state semifinal Friday against McClave before a 20-4 third quarter gave them the lead they never gave up.

On Saturday night, the Tigers took a 10-6 lead after one quarter and extended it to double figures until just before halftime when they fouled Belleview on a 3-pointer. The two free throws made cut the Tigers’ lead to 24-15 at the break.

Belleview managed to get to within four points with just under two minutes left in the 3rd quarter. But a Lev Friedman 3-pointer just before the buzzer extended the Tigers’ lead to 10 and they stretched that to as many as 19 in the early minutes of the 4th to put the game away.

“We just won the state championship and so it doesn’t get better than that,” Coach Michael Foonberg, Gavin’s father, told CHSAANow.com “We had guys step up and I just love these guys. I knew this day was going to come.”

National Results - Girls/Boys - March 10, 2023

Girls

CALIFORNIA

Shalhevet 50 San Domenico 46

In a rematch of the Division 5 title game a year ago, the Firehawks (31-2) won the CIF Division 4 championship game to become the first Jewish girls team in the United States to win a state title. Yalee Schwartz led Shalhevet with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Arielle Grossman had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Boys

WEST

Denver Jewish Day 53 McClave 47

The Tigers (21-3) overcame a 15-point 2nd quarter deficit and outscored McClave 20-4 in the 3rd quarter en route to their 7th straight win and first ever trip to the CHSAA 1A state championship game. Ilan Schinagel led the way with 24 points, Andrew Zimmerman had 11 points and 17 rebounds and Gavin Foonberg scored 11 points.

Shalhevet becomes first JHA girls team to win a state title

Midway through the 2nd quarter of the CIF Division 4 championship game Friday, Shalhevet’s Yalee Schwartz slumped to the ground after taking an inadvertent finger to the eye from a San Domenico player.

You can excuse the Firehawk faithful in the Golden 1 Center if their hearts sunk for a moment, remembering when the star left last year’s Division 5 title game with an injured ankle and couldn’t return to keep the Panthers from winning the championship. .

But Schwartz and her coach Ryan Coleman shared a quick laugh and a minute later Schwartz went coast to coast after grabbing a rebound and hit a layup and the ensuing free throw.

It stopped a 9-1 San Domenico run, stretched Shalhevet’s advantage to 6 points and the Firehawks never gave up the lead en route to a 50-46 win that made them the first Jewish girls team in the United States to win a state championship. Only one other time - the Yavneh Dallas boys team in 2020 - has a Jewish team won a state basketball title.

Schwartz finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds and her fellow star junior Arielle Grossman added 18 points and 10 rebounds. The win capped a 31-2 season for Shalhevet and cements their #1 ranking in the Jewish Hoops America Top 18.

After the game, Schwartz told Spectrum SportsNet that last year’s outcome motivated her all season long.

“I wanted to get back so badly, honestly,” she said. “I only played five minutes last year and I wanted redemption from the last game, I wanted to be able to prove myself and I wanted a state championship.”

The Firehawks never trailed in the game, opening up 16-5 and holding a 26-18 halftime lead despite a dozen turnovers. The Panthers got to within 40-38 with just over six minutes left in the game but consecutive baskets by Grossman, Schwartz and Davina Benelyahu put the lead back up to 8 and the Firehawks were poised to celebrate.

The Erev Shabbos game limited how many Shalhevet fans could make the trip to Sacramento, while the entire San Domenico school seemed to be in attendance thanks to the 90-minute bus ride from San Anselmo.

Schwartz said that the Firehawks defied the odds.

“Given how small our school is and getting back two years in a row and after losing we prove ourselves and we win, it’s absolutely insane.”

National Results - Boys - March 9, 2023

WEST

Denver Jewish Day 63 Genoa-Hugo 41

Andrew Zimmerman scored 24 points and Gavin Foonberg and Ilan Schinagel added 10 each as the #17 Tigers (20-3) dominated in the 2nd half for the third straight playoff game and advanced to the CHSAA 1A state semifinals for the first time in school history. They are the 2nd seed and will play #3 McClave on Friday.

YESHIVA LEAGUE

Frisch 61 Magen David 59

Isaac Schiffman scored 25 points and Alex Zakheim added 18 - and the two combined to go 11-for-13 from the free throw line in the 4th quarter - as the #4 Cougars (18-7) won their fifth straight to advance to the championship game. Jack Haber scored 10 of his 19 points for the #8 Warriors (19-6) during a 4th quarter comeback that came up short. Mark Sardar added 14 points for Magen David and Asher Melamed had 12.

National Results - Girls - March 7, 2023

CALIFORNIA

Shalhevet 57 Campbell Hall 45

Yalee Schwartz scored 22 points, Arielle Grossman added 16 and Talia Tibi had 14 as the #1 Firehawks (30-2) won in the CIF SoCal Division 4 regional final and will return to Sacramento for a shot at a state title. Shalhevet will play San Domenico in the championship game for the second straight year.

The Firehawks opened the game with an 8-1 lead but Campbell Hall battled back to go up 11-10 early in the 2nd quarter. Two 3-pointers in the final minute of the half, including one by Grossman at the buzzer, put Shalhevet up to stay 18-12 and Campbell Hall could get no closer than four points in the second half.