The 2:30 matinee between 8th seeded Flatbush and 9th seeded Katz lived up to the hype in front of a rowdy crowd at the MSAC on Thursday. Katz jumped out to a quick lead behind the scoring of forwards Jonathan Levy and Asher Rosen. But after Rosen picked up a quick three fouls in the first quarter, Flatbush began their attack back. Point guard Irwin Azar initiated the scoring barrage with his drives and finishes at the hoop. Flatbush took a healthy lead into the second half. With Rosen back on the court, Katz looked like the same team at the start. They clawed their way back. Late in the third, Levy went down with an ankle injury that sidelined him for a nice chunk of time, opening the door up for a Flatbush run. Morris Chaaya provided scoring from all over the court and Abie Saada dropped buckets from deep. The Flatbush trio combined for 36 of the team’s points. But Katz held within a few points, consistently lurking at the heels of Flatbush. Cutting it to one with 3 seconds left, Levy received the inbounds pass, dribbled to the top of the three point line, and missed the shot on a questionable no call. He finished with 23 points, but Flatbush narrowly came away with the W. Flatbush held on to secure the win after back-to-back upsets in the tournament, living up the madness that is March. Surviving one and advancing is all it takes. Flatbush moves on to face top-seeded SAR in the Tier I Quarterfinals Friday at 9:30 am at the MSAC. Katz will shift their focus to qualifying for Tier II against (24) Mesivta Philadelphia at 10:30 am at TABC.
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