In a hotly contested battle between the JV Frisch Cougars and Ramaz Rams in Paramus on Wednesday, the Cougars were able to come back from a large early deficit to win their 4th game of the season.
The Cougars entered the game looking to bounce back against a very strong Rams team after recently moving down to #2 in the Yeshiva League Pass Camp Lavi JV Basketball Power Rankings. However, things didn’t go to plan early on against the potent Ramaz offensive attack. The Rams started out firing on all cylinders, and thanks to a few threes by Stanley Cayre, they went up 20-6 in the first quarter.
After a Frisch timeout, Zeke Ufberg and freshman star Isaac Stepner hit a couple of clutch 3’s. Frisch continued chipping into the Rams lead, and Ufberg capped off a huge run for the Cougars with a bucket. The action towards the end of the second quarter was back and forth. For much of the half and the game, the Cougars opted to box-and-one Ramaz star Asaf Seinfeld. Seinfeld pulled up for a long 3 right before the half closed, and proceeded to scream “they can’t guard me”. The Rams went into the locker room with a 32-23 advantage.
The game tightened up in the third quarter, and Frisch was ultimately able to slowly assert its dominance. Noam Grossman’s defense and fast break buckets helped put Frisch over the top. As the contest neared a close Frisch had a multiple possession lead. Ramaz tried to foul, extend the game, and make a late run, but came up short, falling 64-54 to the Cougars.
The player of the game was Grossman, who finished with 14 points and 7 crucial steals which enabled the Cougars to get out on the break. Grossman was also very motivated in the pregame huddle and got both himself and teammates pumped up for the battle. Stepner scored a game-high 24 points, while Cayre led the way for the Rams with 21 points.