M-CATS Conquer Tier II, Calm the Katz STORM in a 59-54 OT Win!

The Katz Yeshiva High School Storm rumble up the Maimonides School M-Cats in a fight to become the Tier 2 Champions. Katz is a high-paced, swift-moving, skillfully clever team that challenges their defenders in every game. The M-Cats play extremely tough defense and can find and make quick open passes for the team to score. Both teams had a true potential to become the 2023 Cooper Yeshiva Invitational Tier 2 Champions, but the game boiled down to who wanted it more and would fight harder to be the Champions.

In the first quarter, Katz played quickly and got many steals and fast breaks to follow. The M-Cats played just as hard keeping up offensively as well, keeping the game close. Number 10, Haim Elmakies scored 6 points just in the first quarter, mostly from fast breaks. The quarter ended, with Katz up 12-10. The game was very close at the start of the match, the game was in anyone’s hands.

The second quarter began with extremely smart passes by the M-Cats to secure themselves in the game. Katz still was getting the majority of points from steals and fast breaks, which kept the game moving, but forced the M-Cats to be cognizant and careful with the ball. Katz started to full-court press the M-Cats to create pressure and try to get more steals and fast breaks. Katz was truly running mainly on fast breaks, if the M-Cats could break the press and get their offense moving they could make a comeback in the game. And to break that press they did, the M-Cats were able to get passed the press and get their offense going bringing the game even closer. Katz stopped pressing with a few minutes left of the quarter, allowing the M-Cats to secure vital points. The quarter ended with Katz up 27-24, the game was still in reach for the M-Cats going into the second half.

 The game was in anyone’s hands at the start of the third quarter. It was a three-point game with aggression, intensity, and drive. Every rebound, steal, and turnover would make a world of difference in this neck-and-neck Tier 2 Championship game. Within the first few minutes of the quarter, Katz got a 10-point lead. The M-Cats trailed behind closely fighting hard to catch up. Throughout the third quarter, Katz kept up a slight lead, but the M-Cats were fighting hard. Katz was struggling to get points other than fast breaks, and the M-Cats were playing an amazing offensive game, moving the ball and getting good open shots. The quarter ended with Katz up just 42-37, a competitive last quarter, and maybe overtime ahead of them.

With a mere 5-point game, and only 8 minutes left, did the M-Cats have it in them to push through for the Tier 2 Championship title? The M-Cats played tough in the last quarter getting ahead with just minutes left of the game. The score was 44-44, a tie with just 5 minutes left. The game was back and forth, you didn’t even know where to look. Balls were flying, in the hoop, out of bounds, and handed into the opponent’s hands. Katz saw the M-Cats catching up and fought even harder sprinting to catch up to block the fast breaks. 3 minutes to go, a one-point game, and the pressure was through the roof. With 2 minutes left M-Cats’, Raanan Gewurz, number three popped a three-pointer tying the game up 50-50. M-Cats called a time-out with 30 seconds left, if Katz fouled, it would bring them to 5 team fouls and would give the M-cats 2 free throws. Katz calls a timeout with 2 seconds to break the tie, but they didn’t score, bringing the game to OVERTIME!

The M-Cats won the tip-off with 4 minutes of overtime to break the tie and become the 2023 Tier 2 Champions. M-Cats’ Jonathan Greenberg, number 0 started overtime off demolishing Katz. He scored 5 points through strong drives to the basket and free throws. He brought the game up 55-50, giving Katz 1 and a half minutes to make a speedy comeback. Katz kept fouling the M-Cats giving them free shots that would lose them the game. There were seconds left, and the M-Cats were up by 5. And with that, the Maimonides School M-Cats became the 2023 Cooper Yeshiva Invitational Tier 2 Champions! High scorers for this game were Katz’s, Haim Elmakies, with 17 points, and for the M-Cats, Nathan Weinstock with 19 points. Congratulations to our 2023 Cooper Yeshiva Invitational Tier 2 Champions, the Maimonides School M-Cats!