Amnon Wenger played for JEC in the 1995 Sarachek Tournament. His son, Shlomo, was a junior for Sarachek champs TABC in this year’s tournament.
My biggest memory from the tournament was actually not the championship game against MTA but rather our game against HAFTR. They had been our biggest rival all season beating us in the preseason, the regular season, and twice in the HAFTR tournament (including in the championship when our last second three was ruled a 2 because our shooter’s foot was on the line). We faced them in the Yeshiva League semi-finals and blew them out, but that game we all viewed as having an asterisk because their star point guard had a heart flutter in the locker room before the game and had to be rushed to the hospital. Luckily their point guard was ok and cleared to play in Sarachek and both teams viewed that rematch as the true playoff game to decide which team was really the best. We handily beat them again before getting upset in the finals against MTA- a team we had defeated multiple times that year- but it was that rematch against HAFTR that forever stands out in my mind.
Having the chance to watch my son play in the tournament, 30 years after I did, will be surreal and I hope he has the opportunity to similarly build memories to last a lifetime.
