Double Crown: DRS Takes Sarachek After Yeshiva League Title

This felt like a championship the second you walked in. The MSAC was packed, loud, and on edge. And by the end of it, after swings, momentum shifts, and a game that never let you breathe, #1 DRS outlasted #3 Frisch 54–50 to capture the Sarachek title. This was a comeback, a response. A team taking a punch early, flipping the game, and then holding on when everything tightened late.

Frisch didn’t just throw the first punch; they controlled the entire opening stretch. Jessie Reinhart was everywhere. Inside finishes, free throws, even stepping out and hitting a three. He set the tone physically and offensively, and DRS had no easy answers early.

Then came Isaac Stepner, a triple that brought the crowd to life, “Who’s your daddy” chants raining down, and suddenly the Cougars were rolling. Defensively, Frisch was doing exactly what they needed to do, taking away downhill lanes, crowding the paint, and forcing DRS into uncomfortable possessions.

Then Reinhart opened the second with a corner three-pointer for a 21–8lead. At that moment, it felt like Frisch had seized complete control of the championship game. But that’s when everything flipped. And it started with four consecutive charges. The energy in the gym completely changed. You could feel it, the crowd waking up, the bench on its feet, momentum shifting possession by possession.

Then the offense followed. Elisha Tsaidi knocked down a three, and Michael Solomon followed with one of his own, bringing the crowd back to life and cutting the deficit to 21–17. DRS kept pushing, Solomon attacked and finished at the rim, then Tsaidi got downhill for another bucket. Just like that, the game was tied at 21–21, capping off a 13–0 run out of nowhere. Frisch steadied themselves just enough before the half, Stepner inside, a couple of composed possessions, and somehow, after all of that, they still went into the break up 26–25.

However, the feel of the game had clearly shifted. DRS had found something, defensively, with the charges, and offensively, with their ability to attack and space the floor, and now it was Frisch’s turn to respond coming out of the locker room. Elisha Tsaidi.

They came out with pressure, forcing the tempo, and took control immediately. Tsaidi knocked down a three, then followed it with a steal that led to another bucket after grabbing his own rebound. Just like that, DRS had flipped the game and forced a quick Frisch timeout. And Tsaidi wasn’t done. He hit a tough jumper off his back foot, then another three from the wing, then another jumper off the catch—every possession he was involved in. Each possession, he was making something happen, scoring 15 straight Wildcats points.

Around him, DRS started cleaning up everything else, like boxing out, getting stops, and finding transition chances. Gabriel Spodek cut inside for a finish, Shoam Gabbay cleaned up a miss, and suddenly the team that was down 21–8 was now fully in control, up 46-39 through three.

In the fourth quarter, the game slowed down, as you’d expect in a championship setting. Points were hard to come by early, with both teams tightening up defensively and every possession carrying extra weight. After a few scoreless minutes, Stepner finally broke the drought, cutting the deficit to 46–41 and bringing Frisch back within striking distance.

From there, it became a possession-by-possession battle. Spodek got to his spot and knocked down a key jumper to make it 48–41, but Stepner responded on the other end with a big block followed by a quick three, trimming it to 48–44. With under two minutes remaining, the score sat at 50–46, and every possession felt like it could swing the outcome.

From there, DRS made the plays they needed to close it out. Michael Solomon attacked the rim for a strong finish, extending the lead to 52–47 and giving DRS a bit of breathing room. On the next possession, Frisch tried to apply pressure, but DRS broke it, and Noam Branstein leaked out for a layup to make it 54–47 with under a minute remaining. Frisch still had life. Stepner went to the line, splitting a pair to make it 54–50, and after a DRS turnover, the Cougars had one last chance with the ball under the basket. Stepner backed his way inside, looking to cut it to a one-possession game, but the shot wouldn’t fall. That was the final window. DRS secured the stop, and with it, the championship, clinching the double-double, taking both Yeshiva League and Sarachek Crowns.

They didn’t rely on one moment or one player. Yes, Tsaidi took over stretches. Yes, Spodek controlled the game late. But it was the charges, the stops, the extra passes, and poise that carried them. That’s the true ingredient which led them leaving no doubt. They’ve proven they are the best Jewish Basketball team in the country.

Frisch’s start was real, but hard to sustain:

Reinhart was dominant early, Stepner hit big shots, and the defense had DRS completely out of rhythm. That 21–8 start wasn’t a fluke — it was execution. But the challenge with that kind of start is sustaining it for 32 minutes, and once DRS was adjusted, Frisch couldn’t consistently recreate that level of control.

DRS won the “in-between” possessions:

Not just the big shots — the little ones. Boxing out, tipping passes, rotating defensively, and making the extra pass. Those plays don’t always show up in the box score, but they showed up in the game. Over time, those possessions added up and helped DRS maintain control once they took the lead.

Frisch missed their chances late:

Even after losing momentum, Frisch was right there. Down four, down five, with opportunities to cut it to one possession. Stepner had looks; they forced a late turnover, and the game was still within reach. But championship games come down to execution in those moments, and DRS made just enough plays to close the door.