On Monday, April 1, the #13 DRS Wildcats defeated the #9 HAFTR Hawks in the Tier II Finals by a score of 69-54.
After a lot of pre-game hype for the Battle of the Five Towns, both teams started off slowly, with neither hitting a basket for about two minutes. Then, the teams exchanged baskets for most of the first quarter, with the score tied at 7-7 with three minutes to go in the first. Those last three minutes saw DRS go on a controlling 11-0 run, capped off by a buzzer beater putback by Adir Sacknovitz.
In the second quarter, DRS picked up right where they left off, opening the quarter by expanding the 11-0 run to 18-0, propelled by Joe Aaron free throws and a Tzvi Tsaidi three. HAFTR’s Sam Siri ended the run with five consecutive points of his own, including a strong drive to the basket leading to a layup. The teams then exchanged baskets for the rest of the quarter, including two big threes from HAFTR’s Kevin Levy as DRS went into the locker room with a 39-24 lead.
The DRS Wildcats are your Tier II champions(Photo Credit: MacsLive)
Opening the second half, Kevin Levy began to put the team on his back as he scored all of HAFTR’s first seven points of the quarter. The quarter also saw two injury scares for DRS, with both Joe Aaron and Aiden Buchbinder leaving the game, although each would return soon after. When the dust settled, the score was 52-39 entering the fourth.
During the final frame, we saw more of the same, with neither team having any dominant runs. With about two minutes to go and many of HAFTR’s stars having fouled out of the game, both teams emptied the bench as DRS cruised to a 69-54 victory and cemented themselves as the Tier II champions.
Ultimately, this game came down to free throws for DRS, as the Wildcats went an impressive 22/28 from the charity stripe. Aaron led the way for DRS with 20 points and was crowned as the Tier II MVP. Aiden Buchbinder also contributed 20 points for DRS, including some impossible mid range jumpers, while Simon Bitton added 10 points of his own. For HAFTR, Kevin Levy led the way with 29 points while Peter Drukker had 8 points to go along with 5 rebounds.