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!
We are only five days away from the end of the 2025-2026 Winter Season. Four champions have been crowned, with only two to go. All that and more, straight ahead on the Tuesday Morning JM in the AM Sports Update. Good morning, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.
Championship season started off with a sweep by the Frisch Cougars in the Girls JV and Varsity basketball championships. Both games were close contests, decided by 4 points apiece as the JV squad downed Ma’ayanot 44-40 for their 5th title in a row and the varsity team survived a late comeback by defending champion SAR to take the title 49-45 behind 11 points from Izzy Nadritch for their second crown in three years.
Contrast that to this past Sunday at the Max Stern Athletic Center on the Campus of Yeshiva University where the Boys JV and Varsity championships were not particularly close. The day started out with the JV championship between Magen David and TABC, the top teams in the respective divisions. A close 4-point game heading into the half, Magen David ran away in the second trouncing the Storm 73-53 completing a dominant season from beginning to end, capturing their first title since 2019. Solly Hasbani, paced the Warriors in the first-half and stayed hot through the second, pacing Magen David and taking home MVP honors. Following JV was the varsity contest between upstart SAR and defending champion DRS. The Sting, having defeated Flatbush and Frisch on their road to the finals looked to cross another big name off the list, but the 13-1 DRS Wildcats proved from start to finish that they were the defending champions for a reason. SAR hung with the Cats until about the halfway mark of the 2nd quarter when they held a 23-22 lead, but DRS would jump ahead and go into the half up 3, score 20 points in the third and pull away for a 63-52 win, marking the first back to back champions since HAFTR in my junior year in high school. Gaby Spodek led all scorers with 21 points for DRS, earning MVP honors for the back-to-back champions.
Ironically, the varsity championship coming up this Sunday for hockey will contain neither DRS nor SAR after two fantastic semifinal contests last week. West champion SAR and 3 seed TABC went 34 scoreless minutes before Jayden Leffel slammed home a powerplay goal to give the Storm the lead and the win 1-0. Sol Sandel clamped down on the net as TABC advances to their first championship since 2022 where they lost to the Frisch Cougars. Their opponent this Sunday in the finals, the Frisch Cougars. The West 2nd seed went on the road to DRS and gave the Greenhouse some extra hockey as the game would head to overtime where a heads-up pass by Bennett Lissauer to Ryan Teller would lead to Teller slamming home the game winner and setting up yet another Route-4 Rivalry for the Varsity championships. Additionally, the Storm will now get a chance for a sweep of their own as their JV squad will face the SAR Sting in another all-West finals showdown. TABC will look to go one step further than last year and take home their 11th JV crown, while SAR will look for their third since 2015. Both games will take place this Sunday in Ben Porat Yosef. The JV final is slated for 2:15 to be followed in the evening by the varsity contest with yours truly on the call.
And that was your JM in the AM Sports Update, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.