On a recent Sunday, the National Council of Young Israel Basketball League’s season came to a successful close with an exciting and competitive Championship Tripleheader. The day featured championship games in the Junior Division (6th 7th and 8th graders), Intermediate Division (9th and 10th graders) and Senior Division (11th and 12th graders). Under the direction of Commissioners Irv Bader and Judah Rhine, the synagogue-based National Council of Young Israel Basketball League is comprised of 23 teams from the tri-state area. The season runs from January through May.
The opening game of the day was the Junior Division Championship featuring Flatbush Park and the Shaare Zion Wildcats. The game was extremely competitive during the first half, with Shaare Zion leading at halftime by a score of 30-22. Flatbush Park stayed close for the first part of the third quarter when Shaare Zion pulled away and won by a score of 66-44. Leading the way for Shaare Zion was Jeffrey Pardo with 24 points and for Flatbush Park, Don Ben-Ami with 23 points.
The second game was the Intermediate Division Championship featuring Kingsway and Young Israel of Flatbush. Young Israel of Flatbush held a 3-point lead after the first quarter and extended it to a 32-20 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, after being down by as many as 15 points, Kingsway mounted a comeback and cut the lead to just 5 points entering the fourth quarter. The comeback was almost complete as Flatbush Park took a 3-point lead with less than two minutes to go in the game. Young Israel of Flatbush did not give up and managed to tie the score at 57 and send the game into overtime. In overtime, Kingsway converted nearly all of their foul shots and pulled out a thrilling 70-67 overtime victory. Shalom Novacella led Young Israel of Flatbush with 34 points and Asher Nutovic led Kingsway with 21 points.
The final game of the day was the Senior Division Championship which featured Lev Bonim and the Young Israel of Flatbush. Lev Bonim took control of the game early on as they raced to a 10-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, and extended the lead to 21-16 at halftime. In the third quarter, Young Israel of Flatbush started a comeback, but Lev Bonim maintained their composure and earned the victory in a defensive battle with a final score of 42-39. Leading the way for Lev Bonim was Eli Blaski with 19 points, and the high scorer for Young Israel of Flatbush, was Aryeh Berger with 14 points.
As the 2009 season of the National Council of Young Israel Basketball League came to a successful close, League Commissioners Judah Rhine and Irv Bader extended a special Yasher Koach and Hakarat Hatov to all of the coaches and referees, as well as the players, for making this season so special. Rhine and Bader said that plans are already being made for next season, as the league is looking to expand to more teams and additional communities in the Greater New York area. They are also planning to establish a girls division and an adult division. For more information about the National Council of Young Israel Basketball League, email basketball@youngisrael.org or contact the National Council of Young Israel at (212) 929-1525.
