It’s one minute into the first quarter, and the CESJDS Lions are down by three. Junior Micah Goldrich gets open to score a three-pointer, starting his team off strong for the rest of the game. Goldrich was the only player to not attend the Memphis Yeshiva Invitational basketball tournament the previous week, but he was a leading scorer this game, helping his team secure the win.
The JDS boys varsity basketball team beat the St. Anselm Abbey School Panthers on Nov. 21 in their second game of the PVAC season. While the competition was aggressive, specifically on defense with consistent steals and hustle, the Lions managed to stay on top throughout the match.
“I was feeling confident going into this game,” Goldrich said. “I know these are my boys, we’ve been playing together for years, I wasn’t nervous at all. I knew the chemistry would be there.”
In the first quarter, thePanthers won the tip off and quickly scored a three-pointer. This did not discourage the Lions, who responded with five consecutive three-pointers. Along with Goldrich, junior and captain Cyrus Blumenthal scored three and sophomore Dylan Shank scored one.
For the rest of the first quarter, Blumenthal had a total of 11 points, the team’s high for one player to achieve within any quarter. This led the Lions to finish the quarter 22-6.
“It was a good confidence builder, we were able to capitalize on that and keep our streak going,” Blumenthal said. “We have struggled in the past with starting the game off strong, so this was a great start.”
As the game progressed, the Panthers began to catch up to the Lions, mostly through aggressive defense, with many steals in a row. JDS started to get overwhelmed, affecting their offensive performance as they kept being rushed by the shot clock.
Head coach Ryan Eskow noticed that the team often gets flustered when the score gets close, which is something that he intends to work on throughout the season.
“I think we panic at times and we make pretty ridiculous turnovers at times,” Eskow said. “But I chalk that up to being young and inexperienced in terms of game time.”
The score at halftime had the Lions up 34-24, and for the first five minutes of the third quarter, the Panthers were yet to make a shot. During these minutes, Shank and junior Leo Steindecker helped JDS secure a further lead above the Panthers with five points from Shank and two from Steindecker.
According to Blumenthal, since the starting lineup had been playing most of the game, they began to get tired, leading to them fouling the other team. Blumenthal, along with juniors Jesse Fisher, Caden Mont and Jakob Lipsky all fouled on the Panthers layups, leading St. Anselms to score four points on free throws. Despite this, the third quarter ended with the Lions up 52-35.
“[The points on free throws] was definitely frustrating, we were rushed and out of our game,” Blumenthal said. “We just have to control what we can control and leave the rest aside. In the end it didn’t really matter, we just had to stay locked in and keep our heads in the game.”
Nearing the end of the game, as the Lions had attained a significant lead, Eskow began subbing in more players. Freshmen Theo Pearlman and David Federowicz, sophomore Shia Messler and senior Geoffrey Rosen were all subbed into the game.
The game ended in a 67-51 win for the Lions. After Thanksgiving break the Lions will play two important games against their biggest competition in the league, the first against Sandy Spring Friends School on Dec. 3 and the next against Berman Hebrew Academy on Dec. 10. The team is looking forward to the rest of the season and are hopeful for more wins.
“The guys on this team are incredible,” Eskow said. “Every single minute, every game, every practice, any time I’m around them, it makes coaching so fun.”
