The #15 Kohelet Yeshiva Kings earned their crowns today, beating the #17 Cooper Yeshiva Macs 60-45 to capture the Tier III Championship.
The Kohelet Kings are your Tier III champions. (Photo Credit: MacsLive)
Cooper struck first, with Avi Becker scoring the first shot of the game. However, Kohelet fought back and went on a ten-point run to close the first quarter with a 10-2 lead.
Cooper wouldn’t go down without a fight. The second quarter saw them tie the game up at 13-13 with 5:48 to go. Kohelet then took over, heading into halftime with a 27-22 lead.
Chezky Levitt scored first for the Kings in the second half, growing the lead to 29-22. The two teams traded points throughout the rest of the third quarter, with Kohelet gradually growing their lead to 14 points before Ben Freiden landed a three-pointer for Cooper to close the quarter 47-36.
An early two for Cooper in the fourth quarter cut the lead down to nine points, only half the size of the lead they overcame to make it to the finals. However, the Kings refused to become the victims of another comeback story. They stood strong throughout the fourth quarter, and a final three from Nevo Anaki sealed the game 60-45 in favor of the Kings.
For Kohelet, this championship means redemption. Many of these players were part of the Kohelet team that lost in the Tier III Championship last year to JEC. However, this year they showed that they truly do deserve the title of Kings.
The Tier III MVP Award went to forward Asher Kahlon, who led Kohelet with 19 points, including shooting 8/12 from the floor, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Izzy Wiener also notched 18 points, and Chezky Levitt added 10 points. Kohelet managed 23 points from the free-throw line and shot an impressive 47.1% from three-point range in the finals on their way to an impressive victory.