Adding to an exciting fourth-place finish at the Milken Classic, the Firehawk boys’ basketball team conquered the Milken Wildcats for the first time in school history in a dramatic upset—a win that has the Shalhevet community buzzing about the upcoming season.
The boys played a series of four games from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, and finished with a 2-2 record. Eight prep schools compete in the annual tournament, which takes place in the Milken Community High School gym.
“I thought the team did reasonably well with their 2-2 record performance and the little time we’ve had to prepare together,” said Boy’s Varsity Coach, Collin Jamerson. “I also feel that we had an opportunity to win the tournament, but fell short, losing 2 games by a total of 14 points.”
It was the first game for the new coach and was marked by strong plays and teamwork. The team was supported by an enthusiastic crowd, a combination of parents and students from the various schools.
Shalhevet opened the tournament with a victory against the New Community Jewish High School on Monday, Nov. 29.
For his first game with the Firehawks, Coach Collin started Eitan Rothman, Yossi Halpert, Eitan Spitzer, Ari Wachtenheim, and JoJo Fallas, all sophomores and juniors. The excited group jumped out to an early lead with pressure defense and consistent ball movement. Ari Feuer, Jordan Banafsheha, and Michael Suriel came off the bench to provide balanced scoring. Shalhevet maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game, and finally finished off New Jew with a score of 62-41.
“Seeing the team work hard and play together makes me so proud to be a Firehawk,” said sophomore Erin Sharfman, who watched from the stands.
In the second game, Shalhevet faced the Viewpoint Patriots. Again, the ‘Hawks jumped to an early lead, leading by 14 points with a minute to go in the first half.
However, after a Firehawk turnover that led to two Patriot points, the game took a turn for the worse. Viewpoint sank a three-pointer at the second quarter’s buzzer, giving them momentum for the second half.
In the third quarter, Viewpoint pounded the ball inside, secured offensive rebounds, and capitalized on its players’ height advantage. With a minute left in the game, Shalhevet came back and cut the deficit to four, but had to intentionally foul Viewpoint. The final score was 54-46, Patriots.
Wednesday night brought the Milken Wildcats, the host team and tournament favorite, featuring JJ Friedman. The city has been buzzing over JJ, who was called the best Jewish player in the country by Macleem.com, a sports blog. He was also featured in SLAM magazine as a “junior phenom.”
Coach Collin decided to go man-to-man on defense, and gave JoJo the assignment of guarding J.J. Milken leaped to an early lead, with J.J netting 11 first half points on three consecutive 3s and a lay-up. Shalhevet was down 30-28 at the half.
In the end, though, Coach Collin’s strategy prevailed.
JoJo shut J.J down for the rest of the game, and clutch shots from Yossi, Eitan, Michael, and Ari Wachtenheim brought the Firehawks to a three-point victory, their first ever over Milken.
“Beating Milken for the first time in the school’s history was not only important for our reputation as a basketball team, but it also demonstrates that the time and effort our team has put forth so far this year has paid off,” said co-captain Eitan Spitzer.
Even Milken noted the competitiveness and intensity on the court that night.
“Your boys did a wonderful job, and they played an outstanding game,” said Milken coach Michael Whiting. “Your coach made some good adjustments and you all performed that evening.”
Going into the final game, each of the top three teams in Shalhevet’s tournament bracket had two wins and one loss, so the point differential gave Milken and YULA the chance to play eachother for the championship. Shalhevet earned the opportunity to play the Rolling Hills Prep Huskies for the 3rd place spot.
The final score was 55-49, Huskies, on a night when poor offensive execution and rebounding doomed the Firehawks to a second straight fourth-place exit from the tournament. But that hasn’t dampened hopes for the rest of the season — and perhaps the biggest upset of all.
“I strongly believe that this team can actually repeat as league champions and possibly make a strong play-off run,” said Coach Collin.
“We want to make history again on Jan. 8 by hopefully beating our rival, YULA. We are going to need all the fan support at that game so we hope they all come out to cheer the team on.”
