#12 Montreal Turns Up the Heat, #11 MTA Left in the Deep Freeze In Tier II demolition
- Marvin Azrak
- Mar 30
- 2 min read
Oh, buddy, was this ever a one-sided barnburner. The 12th-seeded HA Montreal Heat ran the 11th-seeded MTA Lions out of the TABC gym on Saturday night, rolling to a dominant 71-41 victory in the Sarachek Tier II quarterfinals. With that, the boys from the north earned a date with the Yeshiva League champs, the #3 DRS Wildcats, in what promises to be a firecracker Sunday semifinal showdown.
From the jump, Montreal was blazing, racking 22 first-quarter points, while MTA couldn’t get anything going. The Lions put up just six total points in those opening eight minutes as their offense sputtered like a snowstorm-stranded car on the 401.
Leading the fun for the Heat was Simon Alloul, who poured in 20 points, while Isaac Cons—as predicted by the always-entertaining Yosef Silver—delivered a crowd-pleasing dunk just for the vibes. Yaacov Ohayon added 17 points in what quickly turned into a laugher.
If MTA was hoping for a bounce-back in the second,, they were fresh outta luck. By halftime, Montreal had them doubled up 36-16, and the Heat led 53-22 into the fourth before sealing the drubbing with a 71-41 final. This came a day after they dropped 91 points on (20) Maimonides, torching them 91-51 with a 50-15 second-half explosion. Clearly, the 25-hour Shabbat break didn’t slow them down—it only fired them up
Lions Nation will study the MTA downfall over the offseason. A squad that started 12-1 in Yeshiva League play, only to unravel in pressure-cookers. It started with a 30-point drubbing from #5 SAR, then came the playoff upset at the hands of MDY, followed by back-to-back Sarachek losses to Amit (Israel) and #6 Berman. Now, they were just dismantled by Montreal. When you face real competition, you rise to the challenge—or get exposed, and MTA saw the latter. As for Montreal? Bring on the kings. They made the cross-border trip hungry to make a run, and their play showed it. They get their shot at the top dogs, the mighty Yeshiva League champions and #3 DRS Wildcats, at 6:30 PM on Sunday. Meanwhile, MTA must pick up the pieces in a consolation matchup against #16 Mesivta at 8:00PM.
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