On Thursday, March 24, the Valley Torah Wolfpack will play against the MTA Lions for a spot in Tier I. The Valley Torah Wolfpack enter the tournament as the second seed while the MTA Lions are the 15th seed. Valley Torah had a historic year, finishing 30-4 overall and 13-1 in conference play. The Wolfpack advanced to the CIF State Championship game where they lost to Scripps Ranch. The Wolfpack are legitimate threats to win it all and they will look to start out strong. They have many players who can score at a high level and are led by Jonny Dan who was named CIF player of the year. The MTA Lions finished the season with a respectable 9-5 record. The Lions have talented players across the board and are no strangers to this tournament. That being said, they have not won a Tier I championship since 1999 and will have to pull off a big upset today in order to do so. The winner of this game will advance to the Tier I quarterfinals, while the loser will play in the Tier II qualifier on Friday.
Start out Strong:
There is a lot of anticipation heading into Sarachek and sometimes the nerves can cause slow starts. It is important for both teams to make a statement early and put pressure on the other team.
Defense:
In these tournaments, it is crucial that teams bring high defensive intensity to the games. Both of these teams pride themselves on getting stops and this game may come down to one or two defensive stops.
The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the (7) Ramaz vs (10) Magen David game. The loser will play a Tier II qualifier against the Hillel Heat on Friday.
This highly awaited Tier I qualifier matchup will tip off from the Max Stern Athletic Center at 5:30 PM. The game will be broadcast by MacsLive; you can watch live here.
Be sure to follow MacsLive.com, as well as MacsLive on Twitter and Instagram, for all Sarachek 2022 coverage.