Memphis Yeshiva Invitational

11-7-2015 | HAFTR Hawks Soar back into Cooper Invitational Championship Game; Defeat YULA Panthers 48-41

11-7-2015 | HAFTR Hawks Soar back into Cooper Invitational Championship Game; Defeat YULA Panthers 48-41

By: Shmuel Perl

In the second Tier 1 semi-final of the night, the #2 YULA Panthers played the #3 HAFTR Hawks for the final spot in the Cooper Invitational championship game. HAFTR won the tip, but Abie Perlow missed a jumper and the Hawks came up empty. However, Jacob Siri and Jason Abraham scored baskets on the next two possessions for the Hawks and HAFTR jumped out to an early lead. YULA countered with a 6-2 run, with baskets coming from their big guys inside. HAFTR star center, Abie Perlow, scored his first points to break the tie, but a nice basket by Yair Isaacs tied it back up. Perlow then had a fabulous three point play and followed it up with a good move and score in the post to put the Hawks up by five points. The Panthers countered with 6-2 run to cut the lead to one, with all of their points coming from #20, Alan Gindi. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 15-14 HAFTR.

Perlow, who could not be stopped early on, started off the scoring in the second quarter with a basket in traffic. Gindi responded with another basket for the Panthers, but then Perlow made a great cut off an inbound pass and scored to extend the HAFTR lead. The Panthers would not go away, as David Haboosheh hit a clutch three to tie the game back up. However, it would not stay a tie game for long, as Sammy Mandel immediately hit a three for HAFTR to give the Hawks the lead back. Gindi continued his heroic effort, scoring for the Panthers, but then Perlow scored five straight points for the Hawks to make it a six point game. Both teams scored to end the half, and the score was 29-22 Hawks.

Neither team could really find their way offensively at the start of the third quarter, but a technical foul on HAFTR’s coach gave YULA two free throws and the ball back. The Panthers capitalized on this great opportunity, as Yair Isaacs made one of two free throws and David Sassoon nailed a three to make it a 29-26 game. Max Rosner made a free throw and Abie Perlow scored his first points of the second half, but two great baskets by Alan Gindi kept YULA within two. A baseline jumper by Rosner made it a four point game again, but a steal by Gindi and a transition bucket by Yair Isaacs once again cut HAFTR’s lead to two. With time winding down in the third, Sammy Mandel made a huge three and HAFTR got a crucial block on a YULA fast break to give them a 37-32 lead after three quarters.

The final quarter also started with some subpar basketball by both teams, featuring a lot of missed shots and turnovers. Daniel Hami, who had been having a quiet night, got the scoring going with two free throws for YULA. However, after a couple of miscues from YULA, Abie Perlow banged it in and got foul with a chance for a three point play. Although he made the free throw, he ran in too early and picked up a violation, negating the foul shot and giving YULA a chance to trim the lead. YULA could not convert and another basket by Perlow extended the Hawks lead to seven. Perlow then had nice steal, but missed the layup, while Hami made a free throw at the other end. YULA put their press on with three minutes left, but HAFTR broke it and got it Perlow who once again made the tough shot in the post. YULA, who would not go down without a fight, came right back and cashed in on a three pointer by Sassoon. Although YULA’s press forced turnovers, they could not convert them into points and they found themselves with a five point deficit with under a minute left. Perlow knocked down three free throws and Sammy Mandel added three more to seal the game and send HAFTR to the Cooper Invitational championship with a final score of 48-41.

The Panthers were led by Alan Gindi with 17 points, and the Hawks were paced by Abie Perlow with 31 points.The Panthers will square off against the RASG Warriors in the Tier 1 consolation game on Sunday morning.

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