Tier 1 Qualifiers
#1 SAR 52 #16 Berman Hebrew Academy 36
The Cougars (15-11) led for most of the game before SAR took a lead late in the 3rd quarter and put it away with a 17-2 finish. Akiva Schanzer led the Sting (16-2) with 16 points and Josh Brody added 14. Andrew Pinchot and Asher Falk each scored 10 points for Berman.
#2 Valley Torah 49 #15 MTA 38
Johny Dan scored 17 points and Noam Mayouhas added 10 as the Wolfpack (33-4) used an 8-0 run at the end of the 3rd quarter to take a lead it never relinquished. Donny Book led the Lions (9-7) with 10 points.
#3 TABC 67 #14 Fuchs Mizrachi 58
The Storm’s struggles scoring were a distant memory as they controlled the offensive boards and excelled in the fast break. Harry Orlinsky led a balanced attack with 16 points and Eli Saks added 11 as TABC (18-5) led by double digits for most of the last three quarters. Ephraim Blau’s dunk energized the Mayhem (15-5) as they cut a 15-point lead deficit to 6 in the third but within a minute TABC had it back up to 13. Netanel Jacobs led Fuchs with 18 points, Blau had 16 and Ari Jacoby added 12.
#4 DRS 67 #13 YULA 48
Ari Ivry scored 29 points, Ezra Dubin added 11 and Judah Leifer had 10 as the Wildcats (13-3) used a 24-9 third quarter to put the game away. Michael Nagel led the Panthers (4-17) with 16 points.
#5 Shalhevet 67 #12 Ida Crown 41
The Aces were keeping Avi Halpert in check and took a 25-24 lead midway through the 2nd quarter. Seemingly before you could say Three-ball! the Firehawks went on a 21-0 run over the next seven minutes and were never threatened after that. Natan Sellam led Shalhevet with 19 points.
#11 Yavneh Dallas 59 #6 Frischz 53
In the game of the day, the Bulldogs (25-4) used a smothering defense and lights-out shooting to open a 19-3 lead before the Cougars (14-8) took the lead with a 17-0 run of their own. From there it was a game of attrition with Yavneh taking control late behind the shooting and playmaking of Hillel Baynash, who finished with 25 points. Jordan Dekelbaum added 14 points and Ben Rael had 12. Ben Haber paced the Cougars with 25 points and Alex Zakheim had 20.
#10 Magen David 40 #7 Ramaz 34
In a rematch of the Yeshiva League quarterfinals, the Warriors (13-6) snapped the league champ’s 8-game winning streak and denied them entry to Tier 1. Allie Dweck led Magen David with 12 points and Jack Cohen had 10. Jeremy Miller scored 9 points to lead Ramaz (18-5).
#8 Flatbush 49 #8 Katz YHS 48
The Falcons (12-10) trailed by two but opened the second half on an 11-0 run, aided in part by the absence of Storm star Jonathan Levy when he limped off with a leg injury. The lead was still nine when Levy returned at the start of the 4th quarter and he spurred a comeback that fell just short. Morris Chaaya had 17 points for Flatbush and Irwin Azar added 14. Levy scored 23 points for Katz (10-7) and Asher Rosen had 12.