Jon Kaweblum played in the Sarachek Tournament for Scheck Hillel Miami in 1998 and 1999. His son Abie Kaweblum is a junior at Katz Yeshiva High School playing this year in his first Sarachek Tournament.
I was the starting point guard for the Hillel Hurricanes from Miami, FL and played in two Sarachek tournaments.
In 1998 we played our second Tier 1 game against a skinny unknown 10th grade kid from Baltimore who scored what felt like a quiet 40 points on us. That was Tamir Goodman and it was the year before the Sports Illustrated article came out proclaiming him the ‘Jewish Jordan’, so no one really knew about him yet. It made it really cool that the next year once he became known that we had played him the year earlier.
In 1999 we entered the tournament as either the 8th or 9th seed (I don't remember). After beating Berman from Silver Spring we faced the #1 ranked HAFTR team on Friday. I believe we were down 17 in the first half and came back to win. There is nothing like going into Shabbos at Sarachek still alive in the tournament.
Then on Sunday in the Tier 1 semifinal game against Valley Torah we were down 1 in the closing seconds and we hit a 3-point shot, sending us to the championship for the first time. We faced off against MTA and although we kept it close in the first quarter they beat us pretty handily in the end. I’ll never forget that moment. The gym was packed to capacity and it was an amazing experience because none of us had ever played in front of that many people.
Five years later I became the coach for Katz Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton and ended up coaching there for 8 years. That Sarachek championship run that I was a part of in high school forged a strong foundation in my coaching as it clearly showed me what it takes to win at the highest levels of Jewish ball. I returned to Sarachek many times as a coach, winning the Tier 2 championship once and just coming a buzzer shot away from reaching Tier 1 in a game against Rambam of Baltimore.
Then in 2023 I had the privilege of returning to Sarachek as a Dad, getting to watch my 11th grade son Jake go 3-1 but losing to that year's champion Valley Torah. This year I'm back at Sarachek as a dad and coach once again. The head coach of Katz graciously asked me to sit on his bench as a 3rd coach and I am happy to do what I can to help the team. It is also a great front row seat to watch my 11th grade son Abie play on the biggest stage of Jewish High School basketball.