Forty-three games of national hoops over four days came down to two very familiar contests late Saturday and early Sunday to determine the champions of the 10th annual Steven Glouberman z’l Basketball Tournament in Los Angeles.
In an all-Yeshiva League affair, the Frisch Cougars topped the SAR Sting for the girls’ title. And the host Shalhevet Firehawks beat the rival YULA Panthers for their third straight boys title.
The Cougars breezed through prelims against H.A. Miami and Katz YHS before easing past Flatbush in the quarterfinals. Frisch had a tough test against Shalhevet in the semifinals but denied the Firehawks’ bid for a fourth straight Glouberman title with a 57-51 win Friday afternoon.
The final was the matchup widely expected but Frisch made quick work of the Sting, jumping out to a 23-3 lead and maintaining a double digit lead the rest of the way en route to a 46-36 win.
Zoey Levy, the Frisch guard who scored 16 points in the title game, was named tournament MVP. The girls’ All-Tournament Team included Dillan Haghighat of North Shore; Leila Sakhai of Ramaz; Kira Heumann of YULA; Shira Abramson of Shalhevet; and Liv Solomon of SAR.
The tournament’s schedule is designed to allow teams to fly back east first thing Sunday morning.
That creates a dizzying schedule after Shabbat for the boys semifinals and championship game. But it was no problem for Shalhevet’s Aiden Bitran who combined for 65 points in the two games as the Firehawks rallied from 11 down to beat Berman H.A. 64-60 and pulled away in the 4th quarter to top YULA 61-45.
In the semifinal he dominated the fourth quarter, scoring 18 of the team’s last 20 points en route to a game-high 33 points. The only other basket was made possible because a sliding Bitran knocked the ball out of a Cougar’s grasp and downcourt where Yaakov Lieberman scooped it up for a breakaway layup cutting Berman’s lead to 53-51.
On the next possession, Bitran hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and then eight more points to complete an 18-0 run that left the Cougars reeling.
Bitran was the tournament’s leading scorer, averaging 23 ppg, and the clear choice for MVP. The boys’ All Tournament Team was Jon Hazan, Jewish Culture; Alex August, Berman H.A.; Ari Halpert, SAR; Yoni Hollender, YULA; and Sam Jacobson, Shalhevet.
