After their first, much-needed win against HANC last Tuesday, North Shore was looking to keep trending in the right direction in a big home game against HAFTR on the first night of Chanukah. The last time these two teams met, HAFTR was in control for most of the game and withstood North Shorce's 13-point, game-tying run in the 4th with a late 3 from Sam Siri. Unhappy with their previous performance, North Shore came out looking like a totally different team, full of energy and good execution, in hopes of turning their season around after a rough 0-4 start.
North Shore made it clear from the jump that they were going to exploit their height advantage, especially with the absence of HAFTR’s starting center, Peter Drukker. Big men Ben Abizadeh and Jordan Zarka went to work early on in the post. While HAFTR was able to hit some outside shots, North Shore continued to eat up the Hawks down low, ending the first quarter up 14-9.
The second quarter was all North Shore; the Lions started off with two consecutive Josh Ebrani transition buckets, followed by three pointers from Abizadeh and Eli Bokhour. Jonah Carmili also caught fire and scored seven points. NSHA went into the locker rooms up 32-15 and in full control.
North Shore came out of the half the same way they started the game, locking down the perimeter on the defensive end, while hitting some threes and layups on the offensive end, and went into the fourth quarter up 43-19. HAFTR didn’t have much to show for in the fourth, pulling some of their starters midway through, and North Shore ended up taking this one by a final score of 54-29.
The scoring was very evenly spread out for North Shore, with six students scoring between six and 11 points. A couple noteworthy NSHA statlines were Carmili's 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Abizadeh's 9 points, 15 boards, and 4 blocks.
Most of the players on this North Shore team have won back-to-back Yeshiva League Championships, and although the start of their season was plagued with injuries, the Lions are not going to give up on their hopes of a team three-peat just yet. Their schedule, however, is very difficult. The Lions' next game will be at home against Flatbush on Tuesday night.
Stats Credit: Adam Etessami (NSHA '25)