Before the long standing rivalry of two Jewish schools came to a head, the Lions and Cougars united to commemorate the loss of fallen soldier and alumnus Omer Balva (‘19), retiring his jerseys from his varsity soccer career, concluding with a moment of silence. To raise spirits for tipoff following the ceremony, Athletics Booster Club President Geoff Chesman presented a hype-up video featuring the captains from both varsity teams, boosting morale for the high-energy game.
Returning to face the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars at their home court, CESJDS spectators hold their hopes high for the Lions to resurge after an upsetting loss in December. In a heated 51-72 point game, the Lions were unable to temper the rivalry with a win, emerging defeated once again.
To kick off the first quarter, the Lions entered the game strongly: battling for the ball against the Cougars with aggressive play. Berman gained a head start with a five point lead, which drove the Lions to keep pace, tying the score at 5-5. But in a matter of minutes, the Lions fell short, ending the quarter at 22-10.
“[The Cougars] executed better than we did,” Head Coach Ryan Eskow said. “Our biggest weakness is that when we get under pressure, we have a hard time executing; we have got to get better at executing.”
Throughout the second quarter, the Cougars overpowered the Lions’ offensive play, making it difficult for the Lions to locate teammates to score. Despite this difficulty, seniors and captains Itai Topolosky, Sam Sharp and Ari Blumenthal persevered in securing the Lions’ nine points to close out the half. Regardless, the Lions had difficulty with fast breaks by the Cougars, finishing the first half with a demanding point deficit of 46-19.
“We have to play confident, especially on defense,” sophomore Micah Goldrich said. “They were getting open shots from a driving kick, and we were just letting them beat us every single time.”
The speed of the game and the spirit of the crowd only elevated at the start of the second half. Senior and captain Todd Lazoff was the leading scorer for his team in the third quarter, utilizing the open space around the three-point line by scoring two three pointers. However, Berman continued to out rebound the Lions on both offense and defense, raising the score to 66-36 entering the final quarter of the game.
“They punched us first and then we didn’t punch back,” Lazoff said. “Dribble penetration, standing in front of our man; I think those were our biggest weaknesses. Defensive rebounding also.”
Despite the Lions’ efforts, the Cougars would not let up and won the game by 21 points. Although the inter-team rivalry makes the Lions’ defeat that much more bitter, Coach Eskow sees it as an opportunity for growth, and values his team’s unwavering care for the game.
“This is always a special game, and so I think that this game hurts extra [because they lost],” Eskow said. “But with every defeat, we learn. All we can do is keep learning and keep getting better every day.”
