The ball hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. Every fan in the Max Stern Athletic Center held their breath. The Frisch bench was frozen in anticipation while the DRS faithful willed the ball to rim out. Yet, as the buzzer blared through the gym, the net snapped back, and pandemonium erupted.
Standing just before his team's bench, Nathan Neufeld held his follow-through as his deep three splashed through the hoop, sealing one of the greatest upsets in Sarachek history. The scoreboard read #14 Frisch 45, #3 DRS 44. The court was stormed. Players tackled Neufeld in pure euphoria. The reigning Yeshiva League champions, DRS, the team that ended Frisch's Sarachek run last year in the play-in round, were dethroned in an electric finish.
That moment cements itself in tournament history. It'll undoubtedly be in the "MacsLive Sarachek Intro" video next year and this tournament's "One Shining Moment". That was a shot Frisch's players and fans will talk about for years, no matter whether Friday's 10:30 AM Tier I quarterfinal and Cougar-Bowl against #6 Berman goes right or wrong.
How We Got There:
This game was the eighth of the day, with no significant upsets. The Frisch faithful, hungry for revenge after last year's heartbreak, came in loud and left louder. Frisch struck first, catching DRS on a backdoor cut for an easy layup. The Wildcats responded with their motion offense, forcing the Cougars into a 2-3 zone. Yeshiva League Finals MVP Joe Aaron introduced himself with a cutting layup, setting the tone for a battle of chess-like adjustments. The first quarter was a defensive grind, with both teams packing the paint and forcing tough shots. DRS responded to Frisch's zone with one of their own, turning the game into a battle of patience and execution. Frisch, however, had the early edge. Isaac Stepner drilled a three late in the quarter, sending their fans into a frenzy as they took an 11-7 lead. The defending champs were officially on upset watch.
In the second stanza, the game tightened. DRS needed a spark, and Avi Slomnicki delivered, drilling a corner three to cut the lead to one. The momentum shifted when DRS switched to a 3-2 zone, forcing Frisch into a shot clock violation. Playing like a man possessed, Aaron took control—going coast-to-coast, finishing inside, and orchestrating the offense. His relentless pressure forced a late turnover, leading to a buzzer-beating putback by Yitz Bennett to cap off a 10-3 DRS run. The Wildcats led 20-16 at halftime.
Frisch Fights Back:
If Frisch was rattled, they didn't show it. The Cougars opened the second half with a three from Jared Reich, setting the tone for a dogfight. DRS countered with sharp ball movement, exploiting Frisch's defensive lapses to maintain their edge. Stepner came alive, hitting a mid-range turnaround and later draining a deep three to put the Cougars up 30-28. DRS refused to back down, showcasing their elite spacing as Slomnicki slashed through the defense for a game-tying bucket, starting a 12-0 blitz. The Greenhouse faithful were ready to keep partying when the Wildcats finished an up-and-under layup in transition to stretch the lead to 38-30 with five minutes left in the fourth. However, Frisch had other plans. A three by Noam Grossman ignited the Cougars. With 4:10 remaining, Stepner hit a silky turnaround jumper, pulling them within 38-37. Gabe Spodek answered with a jumper for DRS, and Aaron found Bennett inside to make it 42-37. Still, Frisch wasn't going anywhere.
Stepner answered again, keeping it within three. Aaron hit two clutch free throws to extend it to 44-39, but the Cougars refused to quit. Neufeld buried his first massive corner three off an inbound, cutting it to 44-42 with just 43.6 seconds left.
The Buzzer Heard Around Paramus:
With 5.6 seconds remaining, Frisch had the ball, down two. A full year of revenge was on the line for the boys from Paramus, New Jersey. They inbounded to Max Schachter, who appeared to step over the half-court line for a backcourt violation. The DRS bench erupted, but no call was made. Head of Officiating Mel Chettum later commented when asked what the proper call would be, "It's backcourt. Very, very tough play at full speed." In the moment, play continued. The ball found Neufeld. He rose up from the left wing, 6 feet beyond the three-point line. The Cougars bench held their breath. The shot soared through the air, seemingly in slow motion, before swishing and eliciting bedlam.
Frisch coach Brian Jensen couldn't contain his pride. "He's one of the best players I've ever coached in my life," he said of Neufeld. "To be a 14 and beat a 3 is incredible. I'm happy for my boys and happy for Nate. Nobody works harder than Nate." Jensen's voice wavered as he spoke to MacsLive, and the moment sunk in. "If I could clone Nathan, it's the type of kid I wanna coach. I wake up every day, drink my coffee, thinking about coaching kids like this. This team is something special. My greatest honor in life is to get to coach these boys."
For DRS, the heartbreak was real. A year of dominance ended in one agonizing shot as they fell to Tier II. For Frisch, it’s the ultimate statement—a team that refused to be defined by past failures. Don't let the 12-hour turnaround between this triumph and the Berman tilt make you forget this moment. That was more than your average buzzer-beater. It was a moment frozen in time which defines careers, childhoods, and lives on in Sarachek tournament lore forever.
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