Nachum Segal presents Elliot Weiselberg on JM in the AM to deliver the Yeshiva League Sports (YLS) Update. Tune in for the latest Yeshiva League hockey and basketball information, as well as, the occasional update on other sports happenings in the Jewish world. A transcript of this week's update is below.
Thanks Nachum!
Chag Sameach all! March Madness is upon the Yeshiva League and with it, championship season. Today on the JM in the AM Sports Update, TABC Junior varsity will get the chance to double-up, DRS will defend their crown in the Varsity Basketball Championship and Hockey’s frozen four will find 4 powerhouses vying for varsity’s top prize. All that and more straight ahead, good morning, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.
We’ll start off with an update for Girls Basketball, which was originally scheduled to have its championship this past Sunday. Instead, the championship has been rescheduled to Thursday night in Moriah.
Varsity Boys Basketball came within only a few moments of being déjà vu for the Ramaz Rams and SAR Sting. As we’ve alluded to over the past few weeks, the Rams and Sting both last competed for a championship against each other back in 2022 with Ramaz walking away with a 1 point victory. The Sting, the West #3 Seed went into West top seed Frisch less than a month after going into Frisch and pulling off the upset to end the season, and thanks to Max Weiss’s 27 points, the Sting were able to pull off the upset once again, defeating the Cougars 50-45 and punching their ticket to Sunday’s championship. The other semifinal saw Ramaz head in to East top seed DRS with hopes of matching SAR’s upset. DRS opened up the game with a 7 point lead that Ramaz chipped away and find themselves tied at 37 with 6 minutes to go. For the next 4 minutes, neither team could grab more than a 3 point lead until a Gaby Spodek strip and transition bucket gave the Wildcats a 48-44 lead. An Asaf Seinfeld free-throw would cut the lead to 3, but a mad scrum under the DRS basket on the ensuing possession led to a tip in that would widen the gap to 5 with over a minute to go. Ramaz would not go away, however, an inbounds play by Stanley Cayre and a bucket by Emanuel Kushner drew the Rams within one, but Spodek would nail both of his free throws for the Cats, giving DRS the 52-49 win and a return to the finals to keep their repeat hopes alive this coming Sunday at the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus of Yeshiva University.
The matinee matchup of this Sunday will be the JV Championship between the 2 top seeds, East Champion Magen David and West Champion TABC. Neither semifinal was particularly close as both teams battled their respective 3rd seeds, TABC dominating Hillel 70-43 and Magen David knocking off North Shore 69-50. This is the third time in the last 10 years that the two schools will meet up in the finals, with Magen David having won both previous contests in 2017 and 2019. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30PM.
Moving over to Hockey, the JV Final is set following two-goal victories by the top seeds. Despite both lower seeds, Frisch and HAFTR having provided challenges to TABC and SAR during the regular season, the semifinals was certainly not as close. The #2 seed Sting downed the Hawks 4-2, while the Storm knocked off 5th seed Frisch 2-0. The two will square off in Ben Porat Yosef on March 15th.
Which teams will follow them in the varsity final will be determined tomorrow night. SAR earned the right to advance, but did so narrowly, outlasting HANC 3-2 in SAR. The West top seed will host the West 3rd seed TABC, the Storm having given SAR trouble this year, albeit in two SAR wins, 3-2 and 5-3. On the other side, DRS will host West #2 Frisch, who easily dispatched of YDE, 6-1. Since 2017, these 4 schools have comprised the two finals participants in all but 2 years, one being last year when DRS defeated HANC and the other, the year cancelled by Covid, which would have seen DRS face Ramaz.
And that was your JM in the AM Sports Update, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.