After sophomore Jordana Dauber won the tipoff for the CESJDS girls varsity basketball team, the Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars quickly stole the ball and scored three points in the first minutes of the game. Despite the Lions’ aggressive defense and hustle, the Lions could not take the lead during the game, resulting in a 31-20 loss.
Despite the loss for the Lions, there was a strong sense of camaraderie before the game between Berman and JDS, as they honored the memory of Rabbi Matthew Bellas z”l. Both teams were respectful as the Berman head of school talked about honoring Bellas and that warm-up shirts were made in memory of him.
In the second rivalry game of the season on Saturday, Jan. 11, the Lions were eager to come back to face the Cougars with new aggression and skills after their loss to the Cougars in the previous game. However, according to sophomore Yarden Wilkenfeld, the Cougars also played with a new intensity that the Lions were unable to defeat.
“I felt like we had something to prove because I felt like we could win,” Wilkenfeld said. “We are the better team this game and last game, and we had the power to win this game. So it was a lot of stress to live up to our potential after the [previous] game and I feel like as a team, we didn’t play our best. They definitely played better than they did last time. We played better than we did last time, but not by as much as they did.”
The Cougars shot five three-point shots in the first minutes of the game, giving them a large lead. Junior Ella Longman scored multiple layups for the Lions in the first quarter, demonstrating offensive aggressiveness that she had been working on in practice, according to Director of Athletics and girls varsity basketball head coach Becky Silberman.
In the second quarter, the Lions moved the ball around a lot by dribbling and passing before attempting to shoot. However, the Cougars managed to steal the ball multiple times. With these turnovers, there were a lot of fast breaks to the Cougar basket, resulting in the Lions clustering their players on defense. The half ended with a score of 22-15, with the Cougars in the lead.
“The big thing for us is sometimes when we’re up, we can let the lead drop and we can fall behind,” Berman junior and girls varsity basketball player Nitzahn Epstein said. “But I think we really kept up momentum when we didn’t let it get too close. And if we have a good energy, good mindset, that really keeps us going.”
After halftime, junior Tali Loeffler started off the third quarter with possession of the ball, making shots and getting fouled, which allowed the Lions to close the gap between them and the Cougars. There were a lot of fouls on both teams, and the student and parents section for the Lions got wild with cheering and screaming as the game’s intensity rose. There were competing cheers between the Lions and Cougars student sections, matching the aggressiveness on the court.
“It is definitely a stressful environment, because it’s the Berman game, and there are a lot more people watching,” Wilkenfeld said. “But I was trying to block it all out, and I was trying to just play my best the way I know I can play.”
In the midst of many timeouts and cheering, the Lions missed many shots and fouled the Cougars, widening the gap in the score. The Cougars played tight defense and didn’t allow the Lions to shoot, and the Lions’ aggressiveness did more harm than good, as the Cougars got points from fouls. The Cougars started to slow down their game to run the shot clock, as they were up by more than the Lions could score. When time ran out, Berman fans moshed in the middle of the court to celebrate their win.
The Lions are looking forward to the rest of the season and their continual improvement in practice. Despite the loss, the team is gearing up for the playoffs and preparing to bring even more intensity to the end of the season.
“It makes it harder for us moving forward,” Silberman said. “Does it mean we’re not going to win a championship? No we, 100% can, and we are one of the best teams, and we are a better team than them, we just didn’t play like it…It made it harder for us but I still plan on winning a championship.”
