The JEC Thunder completed the sweep of the Kushner Cobras last night in an intense doubleheader on Motzei Shabbat in Elizabeth, NJ.
The JV team secured their first victory of the season with an impressive 61-31 win. In the first quarter both teams looked sloppy, but JEC was able to go on a 9-0 run with six points from Binyamin Dombeck and a 3 from Aharon Rozehzadeh, and the Thunder finished the period with a 16-7 lead.
JEC was able to maintain their lead throughout the entire game. With balanced scoring from the team in the second quarter, the Thunder went into halftime with a comfortable 30-17 lead. In the third quarter, Rozehzadeh and Izzy Kay hit some important buckets and Elie Krause hit a 3, extending the lead out of the Cobras’ reach.
Dombeck finished the game with a 13 point/10 rebound double double, and Rozehzadeh finished with 13 points of his own and four rebounds. Kushner fell to 1-5 despite an impressive 12 point performance from Ryan Brand.
Following this game, the JEC and Kushner Varsity teams took the floor. Both teams entered the contest looking for their second win of the season. JEC was able to come away with the victory, but it didn't come easy.
Both teams were missing multiple key players, which led to an interesting battle. There was a lid on both hoops to open up the game, but JEC was eventually able to build a 9-0 lead behind six points from Yechiel Kadosh. However, Kushner responded, scoring four points right before the first quarter came to an end. The Cobras came out strong in the second period, as Yarin Krasner picked up six quick points. JEC also struggled with many turnovers, thereby limiting their scoring opportunities, and led by just one at halftime, 16-15.
Kushner came out of the locker room strong, and nabbed their first lead of the game with a 4-0 run. However, JEC fought back with a 9-1 run of their own to go up five at the end of three. Entering the fourth period, JEC had all the momentum going, and never looked back. With dominant rebounding and scoring from Kadosh and a couple clutch buckets from Ezra Feit and Tani Gottlieb, the Thunder were able to pull away with a 34-23 win.
Kadosh finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 steals; Feit contributed 10 points for JEC. Kushner fell to 1-6 despite 10 points from Yarin Krasner, while JEC improved to 2-3, and will look to keep their momentum going in hopes of making a playoff push.