Yeshiva League Sports (YLS) with Elliot Weiselberg has returned to JM in the AM! Nachum presented Elliot on this morning’s program to deliver the latest Yeshiva League hockey and basketball information. For a deeper look at Yeshiva Sports check out Court Report, also hosted by Elliot, on Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. ET (replay on Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. ET). You can read the transcription of this morning’s update below:

Thanks Nachum,

As we gear up for the last full week of action on the calendar year heading into the Chanukah break, the playoff picture is starting to unfurl in all leagues and almost all games on the other side of the calendar flip will carry playoff implications. Straight ahead on your Tuesday Morning JM in the AM Sports Update, last year’s “number 1” and current “number 1” meet up in varsity basketball, SAR and TABC take to the court looking to keep pace at the top of the West, HAFTR JV Hockey pulls off a major upset over a top Eastern Conference foe and Frisch keeps rolling in JV Basketball. All that and more coming right up. Good morning, I’m Elliot Weiselberg.

Varsity Basketball featured a twin “highlight spot” this week with two games of major importance. The first occurred Thursday night when the defending champions and last year’s unanimous #1, the DRS Wildcats hosted the current #1 ranked team, the undefeated Heschel Heat. In what may very be a sign of the times and a “passing of the torch”, the Heat, who fell just short of getting their shot at the Wildcats in the championship last year, walked away with a 57-46 victory, marking the 7th time that Heschel has topped the 50-point mark in Yeshiva League play this season. The win came despite Junior Gideon Vilinsky of DRS draining 31 points to lead all scorers. Harlan Reiss topped the victors with 24. In the other marquee matchup, the spotlight shown on SAR and TABC, because, well, it’s SAR and TABC. Both teams needed a win to keep pace with Heschel and Frisch in the battle for the West. The Storm opened up an 11-point lead that was chipped at and drawn down to 5 with a minute remaining. Daniel Wisotsky would gather 4 points in quick succession followed by an Adam Weiss layup and Dovie Marcus free-throws to erase the deficit and give the Sting the win 53-50. Wisotsky compiled the high score with 20, raising the Sting record to 7-1 as they head into Frisch tomorrow night.

JV Hockey took an interesting turn this past week when HAFTR upended HANC 3-2 on Saturday night. A contrast in team make-up as HAFTR, a mostly freshman team emerged victorious over the more experienced and older sophomore-based HANC team. Sophomore Ben Schreiber led the way for the Hawks, compiling points on all 3 scores, 2 goals and an assist to push the Hawks to 3-2, two points behind HANC who have now dropped 2 of their last 3 to tough eastern conference foes. In other action, TABC stayed undefeated, blanking Ramaz 3-0 and Flatbush avenged its early season loss to Rambam, scoring 4 goals and then hanging on for dear life in a 4-3 victory.

In JV Basketball, the MTA Lions couldn’t capitalize on their attempt to muddy up Frisch’s perfect start, falling to the Cougars 47-38. The win puts Frisch at 7-0 and leaves them on the verge of clinching a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs. It seems very likely that Frisch’s remaining obstacle to the #1 spot in the conference will be the TABC Storm, who currently sit at 5-1 after topping SAR 57-34. The two wont meet until February and much can happen between now and then, but it would be extremely fitting for the West to come down to these two rivals. The loss dropped MTA to 4-2 and, barring a massive fall by TABC or Frisch, will be relegated to fighting for a first-round home game. Other scores on the week, North Shore topped Flatbush 56-52 and Ramaz and JEC topped the 70-point mark with wins over Kushner and Hillel respectively.

For more Yeshiva League action tune in to this Sunday night’s episode of the Court Report at 7PM on the Nachum Segal Network. With no show this past week, this coming episode will feature double the action with none of the added holiday calories. We’ll run down the latest playoff scenarios and give you the scoop on who has already punched their post-season ticket to the 2017 dances before 2016 reaches its conclusion. All that and more, this Sunday night 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.