As sixth graders, the Moriah boys suffered a heart-breaking loss to SAR in the finals last year. Through the summer and the beginning of this year, they approached the season with the intent of returning to the big game, but this time walking away as champions.
The season began with a bump, falling to RYNJ on a buzzer-beater. Moriah proceeded to run the table, including a 19-point victory over RYNJ and finished out the season with a 9-1 record. RYNJ also had a tremendous regular season, only losing once to Moriah. With both teams finishing with one loss, a coin-toss seeded RYNJ at 1 and Moriah at 2; the rubber-match would only happen in the finals.
After a bye in the first round, Moriah faced SAR in a home semifinal game. This time, Moriah came out ahead. With RYNJ’s emphatic victory over Yavneh, the finals match-up was set between the two regular-season juggernauts.
The championship game started slow, with both teams adjusting to the large TABC court and getting rid of their big-game jitters. Early in the first quarter, with a large group of supportive fans, RYNJ established themselves with stellar defense and a few well-timed backdoor cuts and plays inside to big-man Avi Wolk. Moriah, on the other hand, settled for tough long-range shots and failed to get into any type of offensive rhythm. At the end of the first, the score was locked at an uncharacteristically low 5-5.
As they had done numerous times in the regular season, however, Moriah made a big push in the second quarter. Playing an inside-out game with Jake Froman, Max Mayerhoff, and Ariel Solomon, Moriah went on a huge 14-3 run in the quarter. Going into the locker room at halftime up 19-8 all of the momentum was in Moriah’s favor.
In the third, RYNJ’s offense came alive with some strong play from Dani Heideman, Eitan Warburg, and Eitan Pfeiffer. Even so, the onslaught from Fromen and Mayerhoff, along with Evan Caplan, extended Moriah’s lead.
The fourth quarter brought on more action and excitement as the teams traded baskets and defensive stops. With all-around hustle and a mid-quarter “and-1” from Moriah’s JJ Blinken, the team enjoyed an emotional boost that propelled them through the rest of the game. A few last-minute baskets from Isaac Merkin sealed the game, which ended with a 45-34 score.
Leaving it all out on the court, both teams fought hard and played well. As one fan put it, “As great as this game was, it could be a preview of next year’s championship game, too.”
Congratulations to both teams on great seasons. See y’all next year!
