-- Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, Tier IV.

-- East Coast, Midwest, West Coast.

-- In town, out of town.

-- And finally, 15 and 5.

 

15 teams who don’t play in the Yeshiva League, and 5 who do.

 

Those 5 teams are #1 HAFTR, #2 Ramaz, #4 Frisch, #5 MTA, and # 7 HANC. These are 5 of the top 6 teams from the Yeshiva League this season and all of them made the playoffs. What non-Yeshiva Leaguers might not know is that the Yeshiva League playoffs are going on right now. What sort of implication does this have for the Yeshiva League teams that are still in the playoffs and for the ones who have been eliminated?

 

I’ll begin with the host MTA Lions. After an impressive 11-3 campaign in the 2009-2010 season, the Lions headed into the postseason with #5 seed and a home game against #12 Magen David in the first round. But on March 2nd MTA lost by two in a stunning and heartbreaking upset to the Warriors. What does this mean come Thursday?

 

As we’ll see with each team, there are two schools of thought. Will the Lions be so disheartened that they won’t be able to regroup and make a decent showing at Sarachek?   Or will they galvanize, recognize that second chances don’t come often, and realize they can end their season on a positive note and play with a chip on their shoulder?  All you have to do is go back one year ago to know the answer. The Lions came into the 18^th Sarachek Tournament coming off a first round playoff loss to Frisch, and they used that loss as motivation to go all the way to the Tier I Finals (ultimately losing to Ramaz). I don’t think I’d be the first to say that MTA was a bit of a surprise last year. Not that they didn’t have the talent, and not that they overachieved, but they finally played to their true level of talent. Returning superstar Yisrael Feld has been in this situation and he will need to step up and lead his team if they are to make a showing come Thursday. Personally knowing Coach Daniel Gibber, I can assure you that he is motivating his team and telling them not to give up, and that this is their second chance at a first impression. The season is not dead, and I expect there to be plenty of fight left in these Lions. Expect a spirited run at things as MTA tips off against Beren at 7 PM on Thursday.

 

But MTA’s loss was a week ago. What if two Sarachek teams had met in an epic playoff battle the very week of the tournament? 

 

That’s exactly what happened last night, when HANC defeated Frisch in a thriller that came down to the buzzer, sending Frisch home for the Yeshiva League season but not for Sarachek. Much like MTA, the Cougars now have a chance to end things on a positive note. Senior and star Jason Langer will want to go out with a bang, so I expect Frisch to come out strong. While I’ve only met Coach Avi Borenstein once, he doesn’t seem like the type to lie down and let things come to a close. Frisch could also end up with a shot at revenge against HANC, and I think that will surely add some extra sauce to this Tournament for them. With a chance to go up against the top Yeshiva teams, it almost feels like a pseudo-playoffs. Teams that have been eliminated will take it all that much more seriously, I think, as they look for Sarachek gold.

 

The difference between Frisch and MTA, of course, is that Frisch lost just last night. I watched MTA practice last night and it seemed that they were already focusing on Sarachek; but how can you expect a bunch of high school players to get over a tough loss so quickly? This is the challenge for Frisch. In a matter of days they’ll need to suck it up, accept the loss, and understand that they have a new opportunity. Knowing the makeup of these players, I expect that as hard as it will be, they’ll be firing on all cylinders come Friday.

 

This leaves us with the teams still in the hunt: HAFTR, Ramaz, and HANC. Ramaz plays tonight against Hillel; HAFTR and HANC have already advanced to the semi-finals.

 

Coming off the huge win last night, HANC has to be feeling confident. The last time they were in the Sarachek tournament, HANC came from an undefeated Yeshiva regular season only to fall to Ramaz in the Yeshiva championship.  They rebounded to get to the Sarachek championship game, only to lose to Ida Crown. Rather bittersweet if you ask me.

 

Now Coach Elliott Steinmetz has his Hurricanes in a different position, and his job is to keep them focused. Taking your foot off the gas now could put the team in a funk, and everyone knows how important momentum is when it comes to the playoffs. The key for HANC, led by megastar Benjy Ritholz, is to keep trucking on and not become complacent. With continued focus and the right attitude, HANC could have a shot at a double title this year.

 

On the other hand, the true goal of a Yeshiva League team is to win the Yeshiva League championship, and that is why we have seen Yeshiva teams “mail it in” at Sarachek some years. The risk of injury and fatigue is always at the back of a coach’s head, and could come into play for any one of the three remaining teams in the playoffs. A team might also want to experiment with new schemes and fine-tune, putting the result of the game as the second priority. Coach Steinmetz is a competitor though, and I think he’ll drill into his players to seize the moment and go for it all.

 

The same holds for HAFTR and Ramaz. The top two Yeshiva League and Sarachek seeds have the same unique chance as HANC to capture the double championship. And the same issues arise. Do you get the bench some playing time? Do you experiment? Do you worry too much about injury? All these factors have to be on a coach’s mind. Assuming Ramaz and Flatbush win, HANC will square off against HAFTR in the semifinals. The teams will know the results by tonight. What if they play each other during Sarachek? Should they (and will they) go all out? This happened once before between Frisch and Ramaz, and Ramaz took the hit at Sarachek but ended up winning the Yeshiva championship. These are some of the decisions Coach Dulny of Ramaz and Coach Honig of HAFTR will have to consider. Either way, I’m sure the results will be interesting as well as exciting.

 

Make sure to keep it tuned to MacsLive for complete Sarachek coverage, and JewishHoopsAmerica.com for Yeshiva League coverage.