No Pace, No Problem: #5 Ramaz Grinds Past #12 YULA in Tier I Qualifier

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 opened tight, almost cautious. The pace never took off, and that alone was a win for Ramaz. Noah Seinfeld gave them an early spark, and after one, it was 11–8 Rams. Then Ramaz started to settle in.

Emmanuel Kushner got going with back-to-back jumpers, and suddenly it was 20–11. But more than the scoring, it was the defense. Suffocating and Organized. Every YULA possession felt like work. By halftime, 23–15, and it already felt like YULA was being pulled into a game they didn’t want to play. And it only got tougher from there. YULA tried to adjust — slow it down, attack downhill, find something — but nothing came easy. Ramaz switched, packed the paint, rotated cleanly, and forced turnovers when YULA tried to press. Even when Ramaz wasn’t scoring, it didn’t matter. Midway through the third, it was 26–17, and somehow it felt even more controlled than the score suggested. That’s the thing about this Ramaz team. They don’t need runs. They need stops.

By the fourth, the game opened just enough, but only for Ramaz. Seinfeld hit a big three to stretch it to 37–26, and the interior size kept showing up. Down the stretch, Ramaz leaned into their identity. Inside buckets. Physicality. Control. And slowly, the lead grew. YULA kept fighting, but the offense just never came, as Ramaz remained undefeated when allowing under 40 points this year.

#5 Ramaz defended their way to a 47-35 win over #12 YULA advancing to the Elite Eight (Photo Credit: MacsLive)

This was a defensive clinic from Ramaz:

The rotations, the switching, the paint presence with Kushner and Sidi, everything was connected. Every YULA possession felt contested, rushed, or forced. Ramaz didn’t even need a huge offensive night because their defense never gave YULA a chance to find rhythm.

YULA never found an offensive identity in the game:

You could see the hesitation. Should they speed it up? Slow it down? Attack downhill?

Shoot early? Nothing stuck. Every adjustment felt like a reaction instead of a plan, and Ramaz capitalized on that uncertainty. When a team built on pace gets pulled into indecision, the offense stalls, and that's exactly what happened here.

Ramaz’s size and physicality wore YULA down over time:

This wasn’t just about blocks or rebounds — it was about constant pressure. Every drive met bodies. Every rebound was contested. Kushner, Sidi, and the rest of that interior presence made YULA feel it possession after possession. Early on, YULA could still compete through energy, but as the game dragged on, that physical toll showed. Shots got tougher, drives got harder, and by the fourth, it felt like everything YULA did took just a little more effort, and that’s when Ramaz pulled away.