The girls final featured CHAT Wallenberg Tigers against Tournament host school and first-time Becker finalist CHAT Kimel Cougars. The Tigers overcame a seven-point, half-time deficit to force overtime, going on to a thrilling 37-30 win.

Fourth-year Tigers point guard Amy Sherman had a stellar game, scoring 17 points. She said the second-half comeback was due to “swinging the ball more around on offence, helping along the court sides and working together as a team.”

Coach Aubrey Zimmerman said that a key to victory was having to focus on Cougars forwards Elise and Julie Kovac, “to prevent them from penetrating to the basket and force them to shoot from the outside.”

He added that Sherman “shouldered a great deal of leadership and made sure everybody on court was included in the offensive set up.”

Tigers forward Aviva Webb added that team defence “kept us in the game, until we turned it around.  A lot of pressure was put on Amy, and she led our team by example.”

Forward Ilana Shiff was a key Tigers contributor with four points and nine rebounds.
The Kovac twins led the Cougars with 10 points for Elise  and 6 points for Julie.
Elise said their semi-final over Gann led some teammates to become nervous, realizing how close the championship was.

“We might have been a little too comfortable with our lead, forgetting that the Tigers were an aggressive and motivated team and proved very fierce in the second half,” she said. “What also hurt in the second half and overtime, was our foul troubles. Tigers were smart, took advantage and got a lot of free throw points. Although we did not come out with the victory, I could not be prouder of our team’s performance in this tournament.”

The boys final also featured a first-time finalist in Yeshivat Or Chaim Knights, facing returning champion Ramaz Cougars.

Knights kept pace most of the first half, trailing by 10 at the break. However, a 20-9 third quarter for the Cougars sealed the game, as they went on to a 61-44 victory.

Ramaz scoring was balanced with co-captain and forward Stephen Sakhai’s 14 points, forward Max Feldstein with 13 points and nine rebounds and co-captain Zachary Cooper’s 11 points. Centre Yonah Dorfman led Knights scoring with 14 points and eight rebounds, with forwards Akiva Maresky (six rebounds) and Eli Herskovitz each netting six points. Sakhai said “hard work in early morning practices held by coach Randy Dulny, who teaches us what to do in key game situations, helped us repeat as Becker champs.”

Dulny added the 2007 and 2008 Ramaz teams “were quite similar in makeup, with this year’s squad having awesome defence. Max makes the Cougars go and gives our opponents all they can handle.”

Feldstein said that a “deep bench allowing everyone to be fresh throughout was a key to the championship. Coach Dulny pushes me to the limit and tells me what I should be doing to meet his expectations.”

Dorfman commended cohesiveness and good chemistry.

“We could have made the title game much closer and achieved a great deal of confidence especially with a one-point, semi-final win (against CHAT – Wallenberg). The tourney will boost our team confidence, for the remaining TDCAA season.”

Knights head coach Jason Blackwell, praised his team’s performance. “We may have been underestimated at this year’s Becker. Playing against freer flowing and structured teams than we normally face, will help us in the long run.”

Becker Tourney Team All Stars

Girls – 1st team: Yael Kaplan – Gray Academy; Nancy Epstein- Gann Academy; Amy Sherman and Laura Wilchesky – TC Wallenberg and Elise Kovac – TC Kimel. 2nd Team: Jen Rice – Gann; Lauren Schwartzberg – Ramaz; Julie Kovac – TC Kimel; Laura Elman and Maddy Venn-Mitchell – TC Wallenberg. MVP: Amy Sherman – TC Wallenberg. Sportsmanship Award: Sarah Edgerley – TC Kimel.  

Boys – 1st Team: Cory Capland – TC Kimel; Eli Herskovitz – Or Chaim; Max Feldstein – Ramaz; Eden Kadish – TC Wallenberg and Josh Danesh – Gann. 2nd Team: Yonah Dorfman – Or Chaim; Stephen Sakhai and Daniel Goldshmidt – Ramaz; Aden Bennaroch – Gray; Kevin Baker – Gann. MVP: Mike Berg – Ramaz. Sportsmanship Award: Akiva Maresky – Or Chaim.

Jack Borenstein can be emailed at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it