On Thursday at 11:30 a.m. (10) Katz Yeshiva High School will take on (7) Ida Crown in the Tier I qualifying round.
Katz will be making their 20th appearance at Sarachek this year. Last year was a disappointment for them, coming in as the number 9 seed but falling all the way down to Tier III. However, this year they come in with high hopes. Although they’ve gone down 1 spot to the 10th seed, the team shows a lot of potential. They almost beat (5) SAR in an exhibition match over winter break, and the team is very athletic. Over the season, they beat RASG twice, but they also lost to Posnack twice. Focus should be on their C/PF Yuval Ovaknin, who has an excellent touch in the low post. However, the other guys on the team will also need to step up in order for them to win.
Ida Crown is coming in as the favorite in this game. This year is their 25th appearance at Sarchek. Last year they were the runner-up in Tier II, and they are coming off a 19-5 regular season, splitting with Rochelle Zelle and sweeping Skokie Yeshiva. They have an incredibly strong team. They have a solid PG in Adam Schwartz. They have height with sophomore Avi Okner, who is 6’4” (and who’s brother Jon played in Sarachek last year). Another player to keep an eye on is Jacob Wortman. Ida Crown is known as the Kings of Tier II. However, this team looks like the best they’ve had in the last few years, so expectations are high. We’ll see if they can make a push into Tier I this year. Their first step will be this game vs Katz.
This Tier I qualifier is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Thursday in the Max Stern Athletic Center. You can watch it live here.
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