A Long Island team will take home the championship trophy at the Elliot Torkieh A’H Magen David Tournament this weekend after DRS and North Shore H.A. won their semifinal games Thursday night.
Magen David’s 47-44 loss to DRS in the nightcap means the host Warriors will not have a chance to “5peat”.
The Wildcats rallied from seven down early in the 4th quarter before Stephen Olshin put them ahead 45-44 on a deep 3-pointer w 1:05 left. Ari Saffra hit a layup with :32 left but missed the ensuing free throw, giving the Warriors a flurry of chances in the final seconds but none of their shots at a tie hit the mark.
Saffra and Shuey Bernstein each scored 12 points and Isaac Solomon added 10 for DRS (4-0).
Mark Sarder led Magen David (3-1) with 15 points and Asher Melamed, who had averaged 25 points a game in the tournament, scored 10.
Magen David has won the tournament 10 times since it began in 2001, including each year since DRS won in 2015. The tournament was renamed this year in memory of Torkieh, a former Magen David student.
In the earlier game, SAR (3-1) led by eight at halftime but managed just eight points in the second half and fell 37-30 to North Shore (3-1).
The championship game is at 6 pm Sunday and will be streamed live at https://events.locallive.tv/school/magen-david-yeshivah