NSHA Lions’ Early Dominance Tornadoed by Katz Storm’s Furious Fourth Quarter 55-52!

In a Tier 1 consolation game on Saturday night, the #12 North Shore Hebrew Academy Lions went up against the #8 Katz Yeshiva High School Lions. After a restful Shabbos, the Lions and Storm began the game with a renewed sense of determination, and brought all their energy to this Saturday night game. The first quarter started with some great offensive plays by both teams, keeping the competition tight. The Lions began their shooting streak with Eli Bokhour’s layup, leading the team to be up by 6 points in the beginning of the first quarter. The game started to look up for the Storm as Ilan Harris secured a fast break, which led to Noah Seplowitz sinking a three pointer. With three minutes left in the first quarter, Coach Baratz switched out his players and the game evened out as Eli Bokhour of the Lions secured all 3 of his given foul shots. The stakes were high on this tier 1 game, with both coaches focusing on tight defense and consistent passes on offense. With 30 seconds left, the Lion’s Andrew Kohanim sank both of his two awarded foul shots, ending the quarter with  a 19-13 score, in favor of the Lions.

The second quarter began with high spirits for the Storm, with Nir Ovaknin hitting a three-pointer. Katz pushed the ball hard with a constant attempt at 3’s and jump shots. However, the Lions were quick to secure the rebounds with star rebounder Phil Cohen. Katz continued their full court press, and NSHA continued to try and beat the press by speeding up their offense with a quick set up. With under 5 minutes left, the Lions had a small 24-20 lead. NSHA came back from their full time out with some great ball movement but KYHS also used that break to their advantage and came back ready to work. The competition was tight, and the quarter ended with 4 turnovers, credited to KYHS’s tight defense. At halftime, the score was 31-23 in favor of the Lions, and everyone was looking forward to see what these coaches would come up with during halftime.

The third quarter got off to a tight start with fast offensive moves and tight defense by both teams as the tensions were raised. The quarter began with 2 fouls from NSHA, and with a 37-29 lead, the Storm was looking for those easy shots while NSHA is focusing on increasing their lead and rebounding count. With just under 3 minutes left, KYHS Coach Baratz encouraged his team to focus on their scoring though that was no easy task with the intense defense presented by the NSHA Lions. The Storm brought the Lions lead down from 13 points to 8 points with 1 minute left. Nir Ovaknin ended the quarter on a sweet note, by sinking a 3 pointer with under 3 seconds left, and the quarter ended with the score of 41-36 in favor of the Lions.

The Storm’s Ilan Attias started the fourth quarter off with a bang, almost immediately sinking a 3 pointer, closely followed by a second three pointer in the next possession. The Storm now take the lead, their first lead since the first quarter! The Lions were determined to make a shot and rebound their own ball multiple times until Phil Cohen made a basket and the Lions regain their lead. Both coaches are feeling the pressure, as NSHA ws up by 2 points with just under 5 minutes left. Haim Elmakies was awarded two crucial foul shots, and although he sinks one of them, he quickly redeemed himself with a three pointer from far out, and the Storm is back up by one point. With exactly 2 minutes left, NSHA began a full court press, and the game evened out as NSHA was awarded 3 free throws and are now up by 1. Katz’s Noah Seplowitz doesn’t let those free throws get to his head, and he went straight for the layup after which Haim Elmakies goes straight to the basket, closely followed by a fast break from Jacob Cik, and just like that, KYHS is up by 6 points with just 41 seconds remain. NSHA’s Bokhour is quick to secure a three-pointer in an attempt to even the game. Haim Elmakies was awarded 2 foul shots, giving Katz the one singular point that can end up making the game, and this was closely followed by a free throw for NSHA’s Phil Cohen. The game ended with two free throws for Katz’s Haim Elmakies, leading to a 57-53 victory for the KYHS Storm. The leading scorer for the Lions was Eli Bokhour with 21 points and the Storm were led by Haim Elmakies, Ilan Harris and Nir Ovaknin with 10 points each.

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