11-7-2014 | JDS Lions Double Up on Fasman Yeshiva, 40-20

11-7-2014 | JDS Lions Double Up on Fasman Yeshiva, 40-20

By: Efraim Wiener

The first game of the Cooper Invitational on Friday was a Tier 2 matchup between 7th seeded Fasman Yeshiva H.S. led by Sam Golding and the 2nd seeded Charles E. Smith JDS Lions. Early on in the game, the Lions had trouble getting into a rhythm. No one was moving on offense, which helped Fasman gain an early lead. Throughout the first half, Fasman continued to work the ball into the paint, and their aggressive defense persisted. Golding recorded back-to-back blocks in the first quarter and scored the ball as well.

What really stood out from the beginning of the game was the Lions lack of in-your face defense, and a slow offense. The point guard, Joel Halpern, struggled to lead his team and was very passive throughout the first half. JDS’s defense in the paint was lacking, and the middle was extremely open, but Daniel Kuhnreich kept them in the game with his amazing scoring ability and brought the Lions up by one point going into the half.

The main issue plaguing JDS was turnovers. Their defense did force a few turnovers, but they were lacking intensity. They were making dumb mistakes that were costing them the game. They continued to score the ball here and there, but they weren’t moving their feet. Fasman was playing with unmatched intensity, but were struggling to run plays and make layups. Going into the final quarter of the game, the Lions took a 10-point lead, but if Fasman had completed on easy baskets the score would have been totally different.

As the game came to a close, there were a few key takeaways which really determined the outcome of the game. Fasman missed a ton of layups down the stretch, struggled to connect, and simply couldn’t put the ball in the hoop. Neither team was really scoring that much, but JDS were still making some of their shots, which gave them a 10 point lead. In the end, the Lions started to up their intensity and won the ball game with the final score of 40-20. The Lions were led by Daniel Kuhnreich with 16 points, and the high scorer for Fasman Yeshiva was Michael Younes with 9 points.