Shalhevet’s Firehawks brought the heat early in this one but failed to keep it going after the first quarter. After the first quarter, the DRS Wildcats brought their everything out on the court. They played unselfishly and simply kept scoring, in addition to putting just enough pressure on the Firehawks to keep their shots from falling. DRS emerged from this one on top 57-42.
Shalhevet opened up play as hot as can be. Avi Halpert brought the Firehawks ahead of DRS by several points. Nevertheless, DRS found their rhythm, went on a 10-0 run to enter the second quarter with a tie game.
DRS began the second quarter by extending their 10-0 run to a 16-0 run. Powered by Isaac Solomon and Aryeh Ivry, DRS took a nine-point lead into halftime. Despite the points allowed, Shalhevet’s defense was not the problem; it was their offense that simply could not score enough points.
Shalhevet, again, could not get a significant number of shots to land in the third quarter. Again with the fire from Ivry and Solomon, DRS maintained their nine-point lead for most of the quarter then jumped ahead by 14 points in the final couple of minutes leading into the fourth quarter.
It did not help that by the second half, Shalhevet, in some ways, became their own worst enemy. They got frustrated by the refs and by the fact that they could not seem to regain the lead. Several technical fouls were committed by the team, and it just seemed like they lost focus; they were focused more on what just happened than on what they needed to get done to win the game.
Ultimately, the Firehawks continued to play hard, even too hard at times, to close out the game but failed to mount a comeback. Solomon’s 17 points along with Ivry’s 19 points, led DRS to a 15 point win. Furthermore, Ivry and Judah Liefer were able to help their team maintain control of the ball with their combined 18 rebounds.
Up next, DRS will play SAR in the Tier I semifinals on Sunday in the Max Stern Athletic Center. As for Shalhevet, they will play a Tier I consolation game.
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