Shalhevet’s road to repeating as Sarachek champions started against their Los Angeles rivals, YULA. The fight for LA looked to be a good one.
Shalhevet jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but YULA crawled back and took the lead with a 7-0 run. The first quarter ended with Shalhevet up one, 10-9.
The second quarter was a back and forth contest as the Firehawks and Panthers responded to each other’s scores. YULA hit an easy field goal with 2 seconds left in the half to make the halftime score 21-20.
The third quarter started out as a struggle for points. The score was tied at 22 halfway through the quarter. Only a free throw from YULA and two free throws from Shalhevet fell. Shalhevet held a 24-23 advantage with a second the game clock, and appeared to have the lead going into the fourth. However, a full court shot at the buzzer from Yaniv Silvera gave the Panthers a 26-24 lead entering the final quarter, and all the momentum.
The scoring picked up for the final quarter. The game was a close one until the end when Shalhevet pulled away in the final two minutes of the game. Jacob Beneza had an incredible chase-down block in the last minute to seal the victory for the Firehawks. The final score was 46-38 in favor of Shalhevet.
Shalhevet will try to continue their quest to be the second back to back champions in Red Saracheck tournament history, while YULA's valiant effort comes up just short.