Live Blog of Sarachek Championship Game

Shalhevet faces Valley Torah in all-LA Tier I final.

By Nicholas Fields and Tobey Lee

The Tier 1 Final of the Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament took place Monday, March 19, at Yeshiva University in New York City.  The Shalhevet Firehawks defeated the Valley Torah Wolfpack 53-51.

1:37 PM: Valley Torah tried to inbound the ball but it was stolen by the Firehawks and they held on to the ball until the clock ran out.   SHALHEVET WINS!!!!!!!!

1:36 PM: Valley Torah calls a timeout to draw up a play.

1:34 PM: Remer makes the first and the second giving Shalhevet the lead by two points. A timeout is called by the Firehawks with 2.5 seconds. The score is 53-51.

1:33 PM: Ze’ev Remer is fouled with 2.5 seconds left and he will go to the line for two free throws.

1:32 PM: Ben Mashiach gets a rebound and Coach Coleman calls time out. The Firehawks have the ball with 21 seconds.

1:29 PM: Zach Muller is charged with an offensive foul which gives the Wolfpack the ball with 44 seconds left.

1:28 PM: He makes the first and misses the second. It is 51-51.

1:28 PM: Dauer is fouled which sends him to the line.

1:26 PM: Coleman calls back to back timeouts.

1:25 PM: Coach Coleman calls a timeout to talk it over with the Firehawks as only 1:29 remains on the clock.

1:24 PM: He misses the first but makes the second, taking the lead. The score is now 51-50.

1:23 PM: Turell goes to the line after a foul on Dauer.

1:22 PM: Valley Torah now has the ball but the game stops  for a minute because there is water on the court.

1:21 PM: There is now 2:13 left on the clock in overtime.

1:20 PM: Muller hits the free throw to tie the score at 50.

1:19 PM: After a jumper from Turell, Zach Muller gets another and one, extending his point count to 25.

1:19 PM: Muller makes the first but misses the second.

1:18 PM: A foul is called on Nimrod Altit which gives Zach Muller two free shots.

1:17 PM: Ryan Turell somehow makes a jumper despite being double teamed, giving them the two point lead.

1:16 PM: Shalhevet needs to make sure to get momentum early in the period to make sure to win the game.

1:14 PM: This may go into the books as one of the craziest Tier I Saracheck championship games ever.

1:13 PM: After Turell makes a jumper the game is tied. The Firehawks then missed a lay up sending the game to overtime.

1:12 PM: Shalhevet leads 46-44. There is a shot clock violation called on the Firehawks which gives Valley Torah the ball.

1:11 PM: Valley Torah calls a time out after making a wide open layup cutting the lead to two.

1:10 PM: Eitan Remer attempts to take the ball up the court, however, it was stolen by Valley Torah. Yet, Remer saved the play, as he deflected it out of bounds to save an easy two points.

1:08 PM: Turell goes to the line after being fouled. He makes the first and the second cutting the lead to 4.

1:07 PM: Wolfpack has the ball now after a jump ball.

1:06 PM: Firehawks have the ball now after a missed jumper by Turell.

1:05 PM: Nadav Altit is called for the technical foul. Muller makes one free-throw and the Firehawks have the ball now up by 6.

1:04 PM: There is a technical foul called on Valley Torah for talking back to the refs after the and one was called.

1:02: Zach Muller gets an and one for the Firehawks and will go to the line to extend the lead to 6. They now lead 45-40.

1:01 PM: Turell is got fouled, makes the first shot, but misses the second. Valley Torah receives the offensive rebound, however, is stopped by the Firehawks.

1:00 PM: Zach Muller hits a step-back jumper on Turell making it 41-37.

12:59 PM: Ryan Turell gets an and-one, sending him to the line to try and get three points.

12:57 PM: After a jumper, the Firehawks now lead by 4. There is just under six minutes left in the game.

12:56 PM: Here in the Shalhevet gym, there are 116 kids and lots of faculty watching the game, rooting for their team. Huge cheers and jumping whenever Shalhevet gets a point.

12:53 PM: After a steal by Zach Muller, he is fouled and makes his first and second free-throws, giving the Firehawks the lead for the first time this game. The Firehawks call a time out and now lead 37-35.

12:52 PM: The Firehawks start with the ball in the fourth quarter.

12:51 Pm: As the third quarter comes to a close, the Firehawks have been on a 21-6 run, tying the game at 35.

12:50 PM: Another foul is called on Valley Torah which sends Ze’ev Remer to the line with one second left.

12:49 PM: The Wolfpack lead 35-33 and have the ball after an offensive foul was charged on Zach Muller.

12:47 PM: Asher Dauer hits a jumper cutting the lead to two.  Not sure what Coach Coleman said in the locker room at halftime but it is definitely working.

12:46 PM: Valley Torah gets some momentum back after making two free throws.

12:45 PM: After making the free throw, it is now only a three point game. The Wolfpack lead 31-28.

12:44 PM: The fans go crazy as Zach Muller just got an and one three. He is now able to make it a 4-point play which is rare in basketball.

12:43 PM: The Wolfpack gets the ball, there is an offensive foul called and now the Firehawks have the ball.

12:41 PM: There is a foul on the floor and the refs are now going to discuss who the foul is on.

12:39 PM: After a great pass by Ze’ev Remer, Ben Mashiach then makes a layup, cutting the Wolfpack’s lead to 7.

12:37 PM: The score is now 31-22 after Zach Muller hits a three.

12:34 PM: The Firehawks start off hot with a jumper from Zack Muller. Then after a stop on defense,  Ze’ev Remer gets an and-one and makes the free throw, cutting the lead to 10.

12:33 PM: The Firehawks will get the ball at the start of the third quarter. They trail by 15.

 

Halftime report:

12:23 PM: Firehawks trail by 15 at halftime, 29-14. I’m sure Coach Coleman will give a mouthful to his team.

The Firehawks haven’t been hitting their free-throws, which has been killing them. This gives an incentive for the Wolfpack to foul the Firehawks more, knowing they can’t hit from the free-throw line. This is similar to what a lot of teams did to Shaquille O’Neal when he was in the NBA.

But also, watching it live this year, it’s hard to not notice the height difference between the two teams. Valley Torah’s players are considerably taller than the Firehawk players, which is clearly hurting them on all sides of the court. This maybe is due to the Wolfpack’s two new senior players, Nadav and Nimrad Altit, twins from Israel who are both 6’7″.  When the teams matched up in February, the Altit twins were deadly from three-point range, despite the loss.

 

12:22 PM: Wondering why Coach Coleman has not called a time out for the Firehawks yet.

12:20 PM: Ryan Turell goes to the free throw line and he hits the first one and misses the second which is rebounded and put back in by the Wolfpack. Firehawks now trail by 13.

12:20 PM: Dauer hits a three. The Firehawks now trail 24-14.

12:19 PM: Dauer goes 2 for 2 on free-throws, cutting the lead to 11.

12:18 PM: Dauer will go to the line for the third time this game.

12:16 PM: Valley Torah gets on the board with two points which extends their lead to 13. They now have the ball due to a travel by Ze’ev Remer.

12:15 PM: The Firehawks will go to the line again. They have missed 4 out of the last 5 of their free-throws.

12:13 PM: The Wolfpack have fouled the Firehawks yet again as Remer will now to the line for the Firehawks.

12:12 PM: Junior Asher Dauer goes to the line for the second time in a minute for the Firehawks.

12:10 PM: The Wolfpack have the ball and now have more than three times as many points as the Shalhevet Firehawks. They now lead 20-6.

12:08 PM: Number 10 on Valley Torah hit a three for the wolfpack and then stole the ball and made a fast break layup extending their lead to 9.

12:06 PM: A foul is called on Shalhevet Firehawks center Ben Mashiach. Valley Torah has the ball and they now lead by 4.

12:03 PM: This is the third straight year that the Firehawks have been in the Saracheck Championship game. Valley Torah starts with the ball at the start of the 2nd quarter.

12:01 PM:  With 35 seconds left in the first quarter, the Valley Torah Wolfpack leads the Shalhevet Firehawks 8-6

Watch live at macslive.com.