The Chanps have been dethroned by the new kids on the block as #4 Jewish Culture pulled away late to beat #13 TABC 57–42, in Tier I qualifying. TABC came out exactly how a defending champ should. The crowd was into it, the zone was active, and they dictated the tone early. But Jewish Culture didn’t panic — they absorbed it, settled in, and then slowly started to tilt the game in their direction. It actually started with defense. Both teams made life difficult early, but it wa

Friday picks: #3 Frisch vs #6 SAR Yosef Silver: Give me the Sting in this one, as SAR ends Frisch’s season twice in upset fashion. SAR 62 Frisch 58 Ari Schopf: Frisch will avenge their Yeshiva League semifinal loss to SAR and Stepner will put up 25+ points in the win. Frisch 60 SAR 54 Marvin Azrak: Stepner takes over. And that’s the difference as the Cougars avenge their Yeshiva League semifinal loss. Final: Frisch 68, SAR 60 Zachary Sicklick: These are both 2 great teams. Fr

This one didn’t turn into chaos. It turned into a grind, and that played right into Ramaz’s hands. The #5 Rams ousted the #12 YULA Panthers 47–35, in TiervI qualifying and from the moment the pace slowed early, you could feel exactly where this game was headed. Coming in, the question was: could YULA speed this up? Could they create that frantic, pressure-filled game where turnovers turn into points and rhythm gets disrupted? The answer came quickly. No. Instead, both teams o

Well, so much for the upset. Sorry, I doubted you, Shalhevet. The #2 Firehawks didn’t just avoid it; they shut the door on it immediately, rolling past #15 MTA 71–46 in a game that was never in doubt. Coming in, the thought was if MTA slows it down, turns it into a grind, and lets Gavi Engel control the game, you’ve got a tight, uncomfortable battle for a #2 seed. Instead, Shalhevet flipped the entire premise in about five minutes with their transition play. They came out fly

Sting season is flying. #6 SAR takes it 75–51, in Tier I qualifying, and while #11 Katz had their moments, this quickly turned into the kind of game the Sting have been building toward all season. Early on, you could see the vision for Katz. Push the pace, let Nir Ovaknin get downhill, create some chaos — and for a stretch, it worked. A couple steals, transition buckets, and suddenly that early SAR lead started to shrink. From 24–18 to 24–22, the energy flipped. Katz fans wer

This one played out exactly how it was drawn up until one performance ruled the roost and bent the entire game to its will. #7 Flatbush takes it 51–44 over #10 Ida Crown, advancing to the Tier I Elite Eight, but don’t let the score fool you — this was a mercurial battle of pace vs. control, a game that kept shifting its shape before finally settling into one clear reality. Early on, you could almost see the vista Ida Crown envisioned. Slow it down. Stay disciplined. Turn this

Exactly as expected, but not without a little early intrigue. Montreal came out flying — fast, physical, and feeding off pure energy. And right at the center of it all was Simon Alloul, who was nothing short of electric. Every time it felt like DRS might start to settle in, Alloul had an answer. Tough finishes, confident pull-ups, relentless pace, his 27 points weren’t just numbers; they were moments. For a half, he made you wonder. Then the champs made their mark with a gree

This was everything you thought it would be. Honestly, even more—and in the end, Valley Torah outlasted Berman 58–56 in overtime, advancing to face top-seeded DRS in Tier I quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Berman dropped to the Tier II bracket. Berman came out sharp, confident, and completely in control from the start. They jumped on Valley Torah 16–8, dictated tempo, and played exactly the kind of game that lets a star like Alex August take over. And while August absolutely had his

For a half, this felt funny. Fuchs made it messy. They made it physical. They made Frisch uncomfortable, up 23-10. And for a moment, it felt like we might be in for something. And even as Isaac Stepner started to heat up, it didn’t immediately change the tide. He was hitting ridiculous shots,  heavily contested, self-created, the kind of buckets that shouldn’t be sustainable, and yet, Fuchs was still right there, up 33-31 at halftime. Then everything changed. Frisch stopped o

I’ll say it straight—I got this one completely wrong. I thought JEC Thunder would control the tempo of this play-in tilt, settle things down, and grind out a win. Instead, the HANC Hurricanes flipped things upside down. They turned the game into a fast paced game, alongside a barrage of three-pointers, en route to a 70-61 win, remaining alive and earning the #17 seed in the Sarachek tournament. How It Happened:  From the opening minutes, this wasn’t a half-court game. It was

Welcome back, champs!  #13 TABC Storm returns to the MSAC floor this Thursday night, but this is not the same group that cut down the nets last year. Those core athletes are mostly gone, and what’s left is a team trying to recalibrate while still carrying the weight of a championship identity. They’ve had their ups and downs this season but the impressive wins stand out. Wins over Frisch and SAR twice show the potential is still there. So, expect TABC to come out strong, espe

This Thursday night game is sure to be a good one! Following a one year hiatus, the #5 Ramaz Rams have returned to Sarachek while the #12 YULA Panthers are essentially a new team altogether after 12 out of 15 players from last year’s team graduated, leaving many new players to fill in different roles. The two teams faced off earlier this year at Glouberman, where Ramaz came out on top—but that result comes with context. YULA was without Liam Braun, one of their key players wh

The #2-seeded Shalhevet Firehawks will face off against the host #15-seeded MTA Lions in a Tier I qualifier on Thursday at 5:30pm in the MSAC. Shalhevet enters Sarachek with momentum under Coach Tim Tucker, having played their best basketball down the stretch to finish their season with a 22-8 record. After a disappointing upset loss to Magen David at last year’s tournament, the Firehawks are hungry for redemption. They are led by Sam Jacobson, a dominant force in the paint a

In what promises to be one of the most competitive Tier I qualifiers, the #11 Katz YHS Storm will battle the #6 SAR Sting on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. in the MSAC. SAR enters the tournament as the Yeshiva League runners-up under Coach Rafi Halpert. After a season defined by resilience, the Sting look to improve upon last year’s performance, where they entered as the #5 seed, defeated HA Montreal in the Tier I qualifier, but were ultimately knocked out by TABC in the Tier I quarte

This is one of those matchups that feels a little dangerous, but sometimes a little danger is what makes a great game. Leading the #10 Ida Crown Aces from Chicago, Illinois is Coach Jonathan Rich. While the Ida Crown lost many of their players from last year, they have a good blend of returning players and JV guys who have moved up. The team is made up of disciplined and capable players.  Judah Well will impact the game in many ways: on the glass, defensively, and by stabiliz

Buckle up. This isn’t just one of the better matchups of the day—it might be the most intriguing one on the board. Valley Torah walks in feeling underseeded. Berman walks in with one of the best players in the entire tournament. They already met once this year in Memphis, and Valley Torah won. And now they meet again, this time with everything on the line. For the feisty Cougars, the mission is simple: give Alex August—a Maryland native, 3,000-point scorer, and the greatest p

The #16-seeded HA Montreal Heat will face the #1-seeded DRS Wildcats in a matchup of high-tempo offense versus championship pedigree on Thursday at 11:30 AM in the MSAC.  DRS enters Sarachek as the clear favorite, having secured back-to-back Yeshiva League titles. Despite losing key players from last year's roster, Coach Moshe Cohen’s team hasn't skipped a beat, finishing with a 13-1 league record. The Wildcats are led by Gabie Spodek, the team's "coach on the floor," and Mic

The #14-seeded Fuchs Mizrachi Mayhem will take on the #3-seeded Frisch Cougars in a Tier I qualifier on Thursday at 8:30 PM. Frisch enters the Sarachek tournament as a top contender under Coach Zach Tuchman, who assumed head coaching duties midseason. The Cougars find themselves in a reversed position from last year’s tournament, while ending as a #14 seed. That run included an upset over DRS, capped by a Nathan Neufeld buzzer-beater in the Tier I qualifier, before ultimately

Note: Akiva Poppers has resigned from the panel as he is now an assistant coach at Ramaz. In his place is MacsLive Associate Producer, Zachary Sicklick.  Wednesday picks: HANC vs. JEC Yosef Silver: These two teams played earlier in the year, but both coaches would tell you that they aren’t putting too much stock into the JEC blowout victory. JEC is a talented team with a few nice pieces. In their playoff game, HANC showed us they can hang with some of the best. I think this g

The prestigious Red Sarachek Tournament opens with something new this year: a Tier II play-in game. For the first time, the winner won’t be chasing a Tier I title. Instead, it’s about earning a spot, staying alive, and setting the tone for everything that follows on the YU floor over the next few days. That distinction makes this one even more compelling, because both teams are still trying to figure out who they are. JEC is one of the more confusing teams in the field. On pa