YULA PANTHERS defeat DRS Wildcats 53-49 to win Memphis Invitational Championship!

The final game of the Memphis Invitational, the championship game, featured the #2 DRS Wildcats from Woodmere, NY against the #1 YULA Panthers from Los Angeles, CA. The game got off to an interesting start with an almost immediate turnover in DRS’s favor, leading star player Gabby Spodek to scoring the first basket of the championship game. The YULA Panthers followed Spodek’s basket with many attempts at jump shots, all of which DRS shut down with their tight man to man defense. Joe Aaron and Gabby Spodek led DRS’s offensive front, constantly moving the ball. With 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter, YULA’s Jaden Azeroul scored a 3 pointer closely followed by teammates Yasharpour’s layup and Fialkov’s 3-pointer, placing YULA in the lead. DRS coach Moshe Cohen called a full timeout and the Wildcats re-entered the game with a new sense of determination. With 3 minutes left, Tzvi Tsaidi of the Wildcats hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup. YULA’s Aviel Yasharpour did not take that lightly, driving straight to the basket helping the Panthers maintain their lead. With less than a minute left in the first quarter, Michael Solomon was awarded two foul shots, followed by two foul shots awarded to Yitz Bennet. However, only two points were scored since both shooters just hit one of two shots. The first quarter ended, and YULA was in the lead 13-11.

The Second quarter started off with a bang as the Mikey Freund of the Wildcats almost immediately sinks a 3 with nothing but net, followed by teammate Joe Aaron’s almost identical three pointer, leading DRS into an advantage. YULA’s Alex Gabbay quickly followed the trend and scored a three pointer of his own. YULA and DRS both sub in some rotating players with just under 5 minutes left in the second. Gabby Spodek followed some of his teammates’ jump shots that fell short with a 3-pointer leading the Wildcats to a 4 point lead with 3 minutes left in the half. YULA’s Yasharpour followed with a layup to even the game, making YULA only one basket away from a tie. With just over two minutes left, Tzvi Tsaidi of the Wildcats was awarded two free throws, missing both. YULA regained possession with star player Yoni Holender looking to make a shot. However, the possession is quick to turn over as a foul is called on Josh Pachter. YULA quickly regained possession, which resulted in a Jaden Azeroul layup. With just 3 seconds left on the clock, Tzvi Tsaidi of the Wildcats made a spectacular 3-pointer to close out the first half, giving the Wildcats a 25-20 lead.

The third quarter, began with increased aggression, a foul, and  a jump ball. YULA focused on slowing the ball down offensively while attempting to break DRS’s man to man. With just under 6 minutes, Joe Aaron hit a three-pointer giving his team back the lead. YULA’s Yasharpour didn’t take that three lightly and was quick to add one of his own, which was quickly matched by DRS Tsaidi’s very own three, bringing him to 11 game points with 4 minutes left in the third.

Tsaidis high scoring was closely followed by Yasharpour who now had 9 points in this rather low scoring championship game. Yoni Holender scored his first basket of the game, which is very unusual for him to score his first points so this late in the game. With YULA just one point behind, Jaden Azeroul quickly put up a layup and YULA re-took the lead by a mere 2 points. DRS quickly caught up and evened the score with a Joa Aaron layup. With just under 2 minutes left, YULA’s Gabbay made a layup, regaining their lead once again. With just seconds remaining, a foul is called on Tsaidi, rewarding Gabbay two free throws. However, Tsaidi was quick to come back with a three pointer though the quarter still ended with YULA still leading by a score of 37-36.

The fourth and final quarter started off slow with multiple turnovers and a continuation of the increased aggression displayed last quarter.  The first points of the quarter were scored with over two minutes already gone from the quarter.  YULA’s Edri made one of his free throws, acquiring the first point, quickly followed by one point from teammate Holender’s free throw. YULA was then up by 3 with 5 minutes left in the game. No additional points were scored, though Elisha Feldman of the Panthers was awarded two free throws after being fouled. DRS regained possession but could not seem to get a basket. The next DRS turnover quicky turned into a YULA layup. The next DRS possession began with a foul by Jaden Azeroul of the Panthers followed by a Gabby Spodek basket. This gave DRS its first lead of the quarter with just 3 minutes left on the clock. But the lead did not last long, as Joe Aaron hit a three-pointer with just under 2 minutes left to tie the game. DRS regained possession and with just 23 seconds remaining in the championship game, coach Moshe Cohen called a full timeout determined to break YULA’s ruthless man to man defense. With just 8 seconds remaining Yitz Bennet was awarded two free throws. However, Bennet missed both free throws, and YULA grabbed the rebound. But with YULA trying to score the game-winning basket, the ball was stolen by DRS. The last second hail mary shot by DRS hit the background and the rim, and for a second it looked like this shot was going to win the Invitational and go down as the best shot ever! Alas, the ball rimmed out, and the championship game was headed to overtime for the second time in Invitational history with a score of 41-41.

Starting with a jump ball, overtime begins with a YULA possession, DRS kept to their tight man to man, resulting in a turnover only 20 seconds in. YULA’s Gabbay got the scoring going in overtime by going straight to the basket for a layup which gave the Panthers the lead. He quickly followed up with a second basket on the next possession and the Panthers were then up by 4 points. With 2 minutes left, Joe Aaron put up a jump shot and made it, so the Wildcats were only one basket behind. With one minute remaining, the Panthers took a 30 second timeout with the Panthers up 46-43. YULA came out of the timeout and attempted to waste the clock. However, DRS played aggressive man to man defense to create a turnover. However, the Wildcats defense may have been a bit too aggressive, since Azeroual was awarded two free throws, making both. With 32 seconds left and DRS down by 5, they miss the shot and mistakenly foul Azeroual once again, though this time he only lands one of his two free throws. With 17 seconds left, Joe Aaron sinks a really nice 3-pointer, closing the deficit to just 3 points. With 15 seconds remaining, the Panthers took a full timeout. YULA’s Gabbay was soon fouled and hit one of his free throws, making the game 50-46. With 7 seconds on the clock, Azeroual is given 2 free throws once again, making one. Aaron sinks another 3-pointer making the game 51-49.  YULA is immediately fouled again on the next possession, and once again Azeroual makes both putting YULA up by 4 points eliminating DRS’s chance at a championship with just one second on the clock. Finally, the buzzer sounds and the YULA Panthers win the 2024 Memphis Invitational championship title with a 53-49 win against the tough competitor DRS Wildcats. The leading scorer for the Panthers was Alex Gabbay with 20 points and the Wildcats were led by Joe Aaron with 19 points.