Juniors kings for a day

THE Maccabi Basketball Club’s under-8 teams had the opportunity of a lifetime when they starred on the court in a curtain-raiser for the Sydney Kings, while the club’s senior and junior teams had mixed results.

Both the under-8 Spurs and Thunder took centre stage at the Sydney Exhibition Centre in an all-Maccabi hit-out that ended 8-6 to the Thunder.

After shaking hands with Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, the boys hit the court for an intense match, which saw the likes of Zac Greenberg, Aiden Forman, Jonah Vaysbakh and Julian Glass put on a show for the crowd.

In official action, just three of the men’s teams recorded solid wins for the club, highlighted by an incredible 33-32 victory for the Heat in B-grade. The side held on for a great result despite losing key player Adam Marks during the second half.

The Rockets and Benny’s Ball did it much easier in C-grade, with both teams notching up convincing wins.

Jamin Hetiner (15 points) was the star in the Rockets’s 46-28 win over The Truth, while Matt Leibovitz (14), Dave Drexler (7) and Brendan York (6) also put in solid displays.

Benny’s Ball doubled Newtown Jokers with 36-18, with Ben Krcmar (12), Ilan Gutman (7), Aaron Berger (7) and Daniel Lemish (6) combining well to get the side over the line.

At junior level, the under-18 boys Lakers were impressive in their 40-32 victory over Inner City Storm. Gabe Baer was the standout performer with 22 points, closely followed by Josh Berg (10) and Oren Stern (6).

The Jets were the only under-16 team to get up after their 22-11 triumph over Newtown Devils.

Fellow under-16 team the Hawks came agonisingly close to a win over Newtown Ballers, but a nail-biting finish saw the game end 25 apiece.

The under-14 Devils dominated in their 33-13 demolition of Reddam, with the five available players rallying for a stellar team effort.

The largest win by a Maccabi team was from the under-12 girls Rockets, which was also too strong for Reddam in their 56-4 walloping over the arch rival, with Romy Glass shooting an incredible 22 points.

AJN Staff

Photo: Faye York