With 7:45 left on the clock in the third quarter, the Lions are down 20 points to the Beth Tfiloh Warriors. In a push to cut the deficit, senior Todd Lazoff shoots a three, which, after rolling around the basket, falls through the net with a swoosh.
This was the beginning of a nine point streak for the Lions, which fans hoped was the beginning of a comeback. Despite their best efforts, the Lions fell short, losing the game to the Beth Tfiloh Warriors 53-45.
The leading scorer for JDS, and the Lions’ star player of the night, senior Todd Lazoff, had 15 points, including the first four of the game. Seniors Itai Topolosky and Ari Blumenthal also had good nights, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively. Both sophomore Cyrus Blumenthal and senior Ari Werbin did not play as well as usual, only scoring two points a piece. Senior Sam Sharp had four points, including a free throw and a three at the end of the game to close the gap Beth Tfiloh had established early in the first half.
After the first half, JDS was down by 18 points, but came back in the second half and outscored Beth Tfiloh by 10 points, falling eight points short of the win. Several players and coaches felt that the Warriors clearly wanted the win more and played harder.
“We’re a really talented team,” Assistant Coach Jacob Krause said. “We just need to give all that we can give throughout all 32 minutes, and today we did not. And that’s why we lost.”
Lazoff agreed that the team lacked effort in the first half but was proud of them for coming back in the third and fourth quarters, showing they could outscore and outplay the Warriors. Lazoff said getting the team excited during half-time definitely contributed to their overall performance later on in the game. The Lion’s head coach was absent from Saturday night’s game, which could also have contributed to the loss.
“I think [we need to improve] our mentality. I think our biggest problem was effort in the first half. We kind of just got down on ourselves, [and] lost our confidence when we missed shots,” Lazoff said.
Beth Tfiloh’s head coach Ari Braun believes Michael Cohen, Beth Tfiloh’s star player, was the leading factor in the Warrior’s win. He said that Cohen not getting the ball as much in the second half hurt the team. Braun believes it was his team’s defense and inability to get the 50-50 balls in the second half that resulted in JDS’s near comeback, as opposed to his team’s offense.
“Obviously, we played really well in the first half,” Braun said. “I thought our defense was really good. It took a while for our offense to get going in that half, but once it did, we had a comfortable lead at halftime. … But I’m really happy with our defensive effort down the stretch to get stops, turn it into points, and knock them down at the free throw line when we had to.”
Beth Tfiloh and JDS will play each other again in the Israel Becker International Invitational Basketball Tournament in Canada later this month. Both coaches agree it will be an exciting and close game, and both the teams believe they have what it takes to come out on top.
“I have full confidence in my team. And I know that we will be able to learn from this, and get stronger and beat [them] in Canada,” Krause said.
