The Flatbush Falcons avenged an early season loss to Brooklyn rival Magen David when they beat the Warriors Sunday in the championship game of the 14th Cooper Yeshiva Invitational Tournament in Memphis.
The tournament had not been played since 2019 but a deep field made for exciting action in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the 16-team event.
The Falcons led most of the way Sunday, turning back each Warrior rally en route to the 63-57 win. Beni Keda led Flatbush with 18 points and was the Tier 1 Most Outstanding Player.
In the Tier 2 First Place game, Maimonides rallied from a double-digit 3rd quarter deficit to beat Katz Yeshiva High 59-54 in overtime behind Nathan Weinstock’s 19 points, 13 from Jonathan Greenberg and 11 from Raanan Gewurz. Haim Elmakies led the Storm with 17 points, Ben Ededin added 11 and Jake Kaweblum had 10. The M-Cats’ Avi Schwartz was the Tier 2 Most Outstanding Player.
Magen David beat Flatbush last month in the final seconds of the championship game of its annual Elliot Torkieh A’H Magen David Preseason Tournament.
In Sunday’s title game, Flatbush led most of the way but Magen David (10-1) kept chipping away. The Warriors scored the first six points of the fourth quarter after trailing by seven but could not take the lead again as Flatbush soon pushed the lead back up to six and maintained it the rest of the way.
Solly Gadeh added 12 points for the Falcons and Isaac Cooper had 10. For the Warriors, Moses Smeke led the way with 18 points, Jakey Arakanchi had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Joshua Chabbott scored 12 points.
Cooper, Smeke and Chabbott made the All Tournament Team, along with Valley Torah’s Ethan List, Kevin Levy of HAFTR and Eli Braha of Hillel.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Opening Round
#1 North Shore H.A. 47 #16 Atlanta Jewish Academy 24
#2 Valley Torah 92 #15 MTA 47
#3 Magen David 75 #14 Cooper Memphis 36
#4 Rochelle Zell 45 #13 Hillel-NJ 30
#5 Flatbush 73 #12 Fasman Yeshiva 31
#11 Milken 48 #6 Posnack Jewish Day 46
#7 TABC 68 #10 Maimonides 64
#9 HAFTR 73 #8 Katz YHS 66
Tier 1 Quarterfinals
#9 HAFTR 50 #1 North Shore H.A. 30
#2 Valley Torah 60 #7 TABC 56
#3 Magen David 50 #11 Milken 39
#5 Flatbush 60 #4 Rochelle Zell 38
Tier 2 Quarterfinals
Maimonides 66 Atlanta Jewish Academy 29
Posnack JDS 61 MTA 44
Katz YHS 70 Cooper Memphis 48
Hillel-NJ 70 Fasman Yeshiva 53
Tier 1 Semifinals
Flatbush 57 HAFTR 35
Magen David 64 Valley Torah 36
Tier 1 Consolation
Rochelle Zell 40 North Shore H.A. 33
Milken 46 TABC 44
Tier 2 Semifinals
Maimonides 79 Hillel 70
Katz YHS 76 Posnack JDS 61
Tier 2 Consolation
Cooper Memphis 61 MTA 44
Fasman Yeshiva 63 Atlanta Jewish Academy 43
Tier 1
Championship: Flatbush 63 Magen David 57
3rd Place: Valley Torah 71 HAFTR 66
5th Place: Milken 39 Rochelle Zell 35
7th Place: TABC 63 North Shore H.A. 38
Tier 2
1st Place: Maimonides 59 Katz YHS 54
3rd Place: Posnack JDS 70 Hillel-NJ 37
5th Place: Fasman Yeshiva 47 Cooper Memphis 37
7th Place: MTA 55 Atlanta Jewish 39
Top Scorers
Ethan List, Valley Torah, 23.0 ppg
Eli Braha, Hillel, 19.3 ppg
Brandon Klein, Milken, 18.5 ppg
Moses Smeke, Magen David, 17.3 ppg
Gabriel R’bibo, Valley Torah, 16.5 ppg
Top Scoring Games
38, Eli Braha, Hillel vs Maimonides
32, Ethan List, Valley Torah vs TABC
30, Ethan List, Valley Torah vs MTA
27, Ayden Gurin, TABC vs North Shore H.A.
27, Brandon Klein, Milken vs TABC
26, Eli Braha, Hillel vs Fasman Yeshiva
26, Avi Schwartz, Maimonides vs Hillel
26, Joshua Chabbott, Magen David vs Valley Torah