TABC STORM hold off MDY Warriors 61-52, Clinch Final Four Spot

Friday morning had a quarterfinal matchup between the #3 TABC Storm and the #6 MDY Warriors. TABC came out strong, winning the tip and scoring on their first possession. MDY’s Joshua Chabbot responded by scoring his team’s first 4 points, tying up the game 4-4. But TABC, thanks to Eyal Kinderlehrer’s 10 points and 6 rebounds, was able to win the first quarter’s back and forth battle. TABC ended the quarter with a significant lead of 26-12 against the Warriors.

Joshua Chabbott on MDY came into the second quarter ready to shrink his team’s deficit, bringing his score total to 16 by the five minute mark, closing the gap to 4 points. This was just the start of MDY’s great comeback in the second quarter in which they came back to tie the game 34-34. Game leaders in the first half included MDY’s Joshua Chabbott, with 18 points, and Eyal Kinderlehrer, who had a double double in points and rebounds going into the half. Both teams racked up significant fouls by the half, with MDY’s Marc Sutton and TABC’s Eyal Kinderlehrer both having 3 going into the locker room.

Eyal Kinderlehrher came into the second half ready to win the game, immediately hitting an and one layup, bringing his teams lead to three points. MDY’s Alfonse Shiloach responded with a two pointer of his own. MDY took the lead halfway through the third quarter with a floater by Joshua Chabbott, bringing his total to 20 points. Back and forth scoring continued throughout the third, with MDY coming out of the quarter on top, leading by a score of 43-41.

The first score of the fourth came from Eyal Kinderlehrer once again as he scored a putback layup, tying up the game with 7 minutes left on the clock. Early in the fourth, Akiva Borgen and Eyal Kinderlehrer both on TABC were in deep foul trouble with 4 fouls each. With 4 minutes left in the game, TABC began to pull away with a great layup by Eyal Kinderlerer, putting their lead at 3 points with a score of 49-46. Joshua Chabbott responded with a corner three to tie the game up with 2:30 left on the clock. Tensions were high as neither team could score for the next minute and the game remained tied. In order to regroup, MDY called a timeout with 1:30 left in the game. After the timeout, MDY began to run out the clock down to 32 seconds left and called another timeout. MDY continued to run down the clock until 9 seconds, when they called a timeout after TABC fouled. MDY’s Joshua Chabbott, after the inbound pass, missed a deep 3, which was rebounded by TABC, who then called a timeout with 2 seconds left on the clock. TABC had a costly lane violation and turned the ball back over to MDY. With the ball back to MDY, the Warriors tried a quick inbound and a desperation 3 point try. It failed to go in, and that sent the game into overtime.

Fans gathered to watch the intense overtime battle between these two teams. Eyal Kinderlehrer won the overtime tip for TABC. After a missed layup, MDY’s Max Abed came and scored a layup. TABC’s Akiva Borgen responded with an and one layup, but he missed the free throw leaving the score tied at 51. With 1:30 left in the game, TABC’s Dovid Saks hit a three. Saks then hit an and one layup but missed the free throw, putting TABC up 56-51. From there, TABC was able to close it out and win in overtime with a score of 61-52.

This game was the game of the tournament so far. Star players on TABC included Eyal Kinderlerher with 27 points and 19 rebounds, Dovid Saks with 15 points, and Akiva Borgen with 12 points. The star player on MDY was Joshua Chabbot with 25 points and 8 rebounds. With the win, the Storm clinch a spot in the Tier 1 Final Four.