Every Tuesday morning at 7:20 ET Nachum Segal presents Elliot Weiselberg on JM in the AM to deliver the Yeshiva League Sports (YLS) Update. Tune in for the latest Yeshiva League Sports information, as well as, the occasional update on other sports happenings in the Jewish world. You can read the transcript of this morning’s update below.
Thanks Nachum!
Welcome back everyone to the JM in the AM Sports Update as we kick off our coverage of the 2024 Spring Sports season. For the next few weeks, we will bring to you all of the action in soccer, boys volleyball, girls hockey and the diamond sports. Straight ahead, Rambam takes flight in boys soccer, Ramaz Boys Volleyball extends their dominance, but of course, we can’t totally move forward without running down Saracheck. Good morning, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.
We’ll kick off at the top with the biggest competition in all of Yeshiva League sports, the 2024 Red Saracheck Memorial Basketball Tournament. 21 teams converged on Yeshiva University for the last and notably the best basketball of the school year. The action kicked off Wednesday night as two Yeshiva League teams, DRS and Frisch met up in a first-ever play-in game, which saw the Wildcats advance into the tournament round. Of the seven Yeshiva League teams in the field, three, TABC, Flatbush and league champion Magen David would make it to the final four, but the crown jewel would go to a perennial non-Yeshiva League competitor, the YULA Panthers. YULA climbed over both Yeshiva League finalists, Flatbush by 9 in the semifinals and Magen David in overtime in the finale 69-59. The win marks the 5th straight tournament won by a California team and YULA’s 9th overall title. In the Third Place contest, Flatbush would erase a 9-point third quarter TABC lead, but a fantastic effort by Eitan Sulemanoff with 25 seconds to go would be the difference as the Storm took bronze with the 67-66 victory.
Coming into the 2024 Spring year, the Ramaz Rams were the personification of dominance in boys volleyball. It has been nearly five years since Ramaz tasted defeat, a feat tempered by the cancellation of two years due to Covid, but still impressive, especially after running the table to a league championship last year. For the start of the 2024 season, only more of the same. The Rams have already racked up four wins, now halfway through their regular season, running off straight set victories in each contest. They sit 2 games clear of TABC with a matchup between the two coming up on Monday. Meanwhile, in the East, HAFTR heads the leaderboard at 3-0 with Flatbush at 2-0 right behind them.
Moving over to Soccer, a surprising name tops the standings. The Rambam Ravens have remained perfect thus far, opening up with a 3-0 record, including a thrilling 7-6 win over DRS. Rambam will have three games next week against Flatbush, HANC and YDE, where they can open up a commanding lead and put pressure on the rest of the East to keep pace. Meanwhile in girls varsity, Ma’ayanot has jumped out to an impressive 3-0 start of their own, outscoring their competition 35-1 in the process.
And that was your Tuesday Morning JM in the AM Sports Update, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.