Straight ahead on your Tuesday Morning JM in the AM Sports Update, Flatbush gets back on the winning track in Varsity Basketball, SAR jumps into the driver’s seat in varsity hockey and the top 2 teams in the JV Hockey East clash with an all-too familiar result. All that and more coming right up. Good morning, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.

It’s been more downs than ups for the Varsity Basketball Flatbush Falcons in the first half of the 2016-2017 campaign. 1-3 to begin the year, a 13-point loss in HANC and an overtime to forget against Brooklyn foe YDE and Flatbush, viewed in the preseason as a championship contender, found itself at the bottom of the standings table with much work to do. It seems so much the opposite for the HAFTR Hawks. Not considered to be a favorite following the departure of big men Abie Perlow and Max Rosner due to graduation, HAFTR finds itself in better position than they could have imagined, staying a perfect 5-0 through a third of the season. The matchup between the two last night had the power to re-shape all expectations for the rest of the year. Early on, it looked like it would as HAFTR jumped out to an early lead that would reach as high as 9 points in the first half, but Flatbush would chip away, and would go into the half down only 4. The second half of play was tight throughout, but ultimately, with their season potentially staring into the abyss, it would be the Falcons emerging triumphant, defeating the Hawks 40-35 to improve to 2-3 and back into the hunt in a tight Eastern Conference. In other action, Derech Hatorah mowed down HANC 76-58, Adam Motovich led YDH with 29 points and Isaac Beda posted his second game of 40 points or more, scoring 44 for Hillel, but coming out on the losing end of a 78-69 contest with undefeated Heschel.

In Varsity Hockey, the SAR Sting have taken control of the Western Conference and the new #1 ranking with a 2-1 victory over Frisch last week. Goals by Solomon Freilich and Gordie Kolb spurred SAR to victory, leaving them as the only team without a blemish on their record in the division. There will be no rest for the Sting, who also defeated TABC this past Sunday, as they will next face the only other team in the West remaining without a regulation loss, the JEC Thunder, whose only slip-up was a 4-3 Overtime loss to Ramaz last week. In other action, HAFTR posts 3 wins on the week, taking down HANC, Flatbush and North Shore, scoring 6 goals in each contest.

In JV Hockey, a rematch of last year’s semifinal battle took place last night in DRS, between the Wildcats and the HANC Hurricanes. In their last meetup, the Hurricanes were overmatched by DRS’s prolific offense, being picked apart for 7 goals after two regular season meetups of 1-goal affairs. Last night would merely be a continuation. HANC could never quite get the offense going , on their heels all night with DRS scoring 2 goals in the first period, including one in the closing seconds with the Wildcats on a 4-on-2 powerplay. The momentum clearly in DRS’ favor the rest of the night, another goal would seal the deal for the 3-0 Wildcat win. DRS, now at 5-0-1 can take command of the East against a winless YDE team before heading into their winter break. HANC will have very little time to regroup, facing HAFTR and Flatbush over the next week in a stretch that could make or break any notions of a home game, should they make the postseason.

For more Yeshiva League action tune in to tonight’s encore presentation of the Court Report at 7PM on the Nachum Segal Network. On tonight’s episode, the fallout from that SAR-Frisch hockey game, as well as a possible proverbial “Passing of the Torch” this coming week in Varsity Basketball. All that and more tonight at 7PM, only on the Nachum Segal Network, Nachumsegal.com

And that was your Tuesday Morning JM in the AM Sports Update, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.