The Hebrew Academy of Five Towns & Rockaway (HAFTR) defeated Yavneh 54-33 in The Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Tournament FINALS in Baltimore, Maryland Saturday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs season record to 13-3.
In its most simple form, basketball can simply be a make-or-miss game. HAFTR used a masterful offensive performance to dismantle Yavneh on this particular Saturday night in Baltimore, Maryland. The Hawks would cool off in the final minutes to settle for 60% shooting to the Bulldogs 26%, out-attempted and made more shots from the free throw line, and simply held their own in the other major statistical categories to make the shooting advantage hold up. There were no turnover or rebounding issues to speak of as Yavneh won both categories and a 16-shot attempt disadvantage proved no big deal for HAFTR. It was simply a case of one team converting on almost every possession while the game was competitive and the other….not so much. For the way too manyieth time in this tournament alone, the Bulldogs saw a team score mere seconds into the game off the opening tap. While recovering from this setback has been a common theme this week, Tournament MVP Avi Rokosv added a three pointer after the first of many Yavneh missed field goal attempts. An incendiary turnover fueled an AND-ONE to keep a lightning quick Hawks start to this game in full effect. Then 8-0 became 10-0 and then almost instantly 13-0 on another HAFTR triple. The 5/5 start from the field was shell shocking to Yavneh and to say they grabbed the early momentum was an exaggerated understatement. There would be no Jonah Eber to swoop in off the bench to inject a second energy wave on this night for the Senior was back in the starting lineup, encouragingly having battled back from a shoulder setback. Jason Prager at long last buried a three pointer off a feed from Mason Schwaber but the Bulldogs defense continued to leak oil. A Tyler C Winton strong tip-follow and a Schwaber post finish provided some much needed offense but HAFTR missed just a pair of shots and led 20-7 after one period of play. To begin the second quarter, four consecutive missed free throws seemed less like a missed opportunity and more like just another pathway for HAFTR to gain possession of the basketball to inevitably score more and more points. In the half court, in transition, and in every other way the Hawks were moving the ball majestically and efficiently putting the ball in the basket. Noah Ohayon did connect on a pair of free throws and Hillel Baynash directed a floater into the hoop to produce some offense as HAFTR cooled considerably in the second quarter. Avery Levy deposited a runner from the baseline area to salvage a 15-spot on the scoreboard, a dim light towards the middle of a steeply dangerous tunnel. Still winning both ends of the court but not at the rampant rate of early on, the Hawks led by what seemed like a fortunate 30-15 from Yavneh’s perspective for halftime. Yielding 63% shooting, being doubled up in field goals, losing the turnover battle 5-1, and watching HAFTR drain four three pointers, a 15-point deficit could definitely have been worse.
Instead of cutting into the lead, however, the third period would be a near replica of the opening stanza. A quick four HAFTR points became an 11-2 run as the make and miss trends continued throughout the basketball game. Schwaber finished at the basket and Levy notched a nice steal to earn free throws but those pair of plays netted all 3 of the Yavneh points in a dagger third quarter. At times this season, the Bulldogs have looked lifeless for stretches and lacking energy in their few struggles. But this was primarily a series of defensive breakdowns that bolstered a spectacular offensive attack by a team that simply did not miss on this one-sided evening. Leading 45-18 after three periods of play behind a 15-3 chapter, HAFTR was going to win this contest. Their lead would reach 30 points at 48-18 early in the final quarter but Winton and Eber refused to see an opponent run away and hide as they so often do to teams once the game gets close to the breaking point. Those two Seniors engineered a refreshing 13-3 run down the stretch behind a pair of Winton steal/assists to his partner in crime. Winton also connected on a three pointer in addition to the pair of Eber smooth finishes in transition. Classmate Reece Parker played well during this spurt in taking a charge in the painted area. The Hawks re-inserted their starters for some of this run which gave plausible merit to the idea that the Bulldogs had finally started to play their game. But this game…on this night belonged to a well-deserved group from all Five Towns….and Rockaway. Tyler Winton used the late run and one legendary tip drill possession to lead the way with 10 points/8 rebounds. Jason Prager (First-Team All Tournament), Mason Schwaber (Second-Team All Tournament), and Jonah Eber combined for 16 points which in this case was almost 50% of the team scoring. Schwaber also grabbed 8 rebounds while Senior Reece Neiman’s late steal gave the partisan crowd a final reason for tempered jubilation. On this night to appreciate if not celebrate a great HAFTR effort in gracefully winning this Weiner Tournament title, the Bulldogs still had much to be proud of. There will be better moments for this trending squad that showed some really encouraging signs of growth this week in the Charm City.
Yavneh (13-3) won 5 basketball games in between the pair of HAFTR defeats and were very good in nearly all of them. They got a prime time performance on the national stage from Jason Prager who is clearly a force to be reckoned with, got Jonah Eber back in the mix who will be back in his true form in no time, and continued to get production from Seniors Mason Schwaber and Tyler Winton. The continued emergence of Avery Levy gives this team a gamer night in and day out as well as energy/production from the Elisha Klein and Hillel Baynash caffeine duo. Noah Ohayon is back healthy and will undoubtedly emerge as the multi-talented swing man that he is. The biggest win this week may well have been the arrival of Ben Rael, who was so incredible for much of the week in Baltimore. This development will take a deep team to uncharted heights. Senior Reece Parker, fresh off his First-Team Character Coin, logged some great appearances while posts Simcha Malina and Reece Neiman continue to be a support anchor for Schwaber. Tom Oster (neck) was severely missed in the back half of this tournament for a team already without Mo-Zander Feinstein (wrist) and Nik Krasovitsky (UKR) but all are planning quick returns to the court. The non-conference tour enters its final stage beginning Tuesday night back at home vs long-time former TAPPS district rival First Baptist Academy.
The Kennel Report, now in its 16th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack +XF M&M
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