TABC Basketball is coming for a title and nobody will stand in its way.
This is the first year that both the JV and Varsity basketball teams have a legitimate shot at winning the championship.
The night of the first JV and Varsity practice, Coach Mo Fuchs addressed the players and discussed the great potential that both teams have this season. From that moment on, the road to the championship began for the two teams.
Coach Ozwald “Oz” Cross is now entering is his fourth year with our school. Within that time, he brought TABC to its first-ever championship game and then brought home our school’s first-ever JV basketball championship.
With all of the success Coach Oz has had thus far, he’s still looking to bring TABC its first-ever Varsity title and first-ever Sarachek Tournament title. He also wants to win back-to-back championships with the JV team.
Coach Oz had this to say about the season ahead: “I am looking forward to the bus trips and hopefully playing in the championship with both teams.” Without question, Oz enjoys hanging out with the players on the bus and schmoozing with them about life.
When asked about the strengths of the Varsity team, Oz responded that the team’s experience is key to success this year. Coach Oz feels that “we have a lot of juniors and seniors that have played a lot of minutes over the last 2 or 3 years.”
I had a chance to speak with Avi Proctor, one of the captains of the Varsity team. Proctor explained that his role is “to be a leader for team and to help put points on the board.”
Proctor also noted that the team members all work well with each other: “I think our team's biggest strength is our chemistry; we all connect in a unique way.”
Proctor is looking forward to leading TABC to its first-ever Varsity basketball championship. When asked about the team’s toughest competitor this year, he said that it would be TABC’s division rival Frisch, because “they have a lot of height and are a very deep team.”
Yoni Mann, Varsity point guard, said the team's only goal this year is a championship. He thinks the team can get there by using “experience and by pushing the ball as much as possible.” The team consists of many guards who can use that strategy to their advantage. By playing fast, these guards can hope to wear down their opponents early into games.
The Varsity team added two key transfers to its roster this year, both of whom were star players on their respective teams last season. Dovid Rozehzadeh was the starting point guard of the JEC Thunder and an All Star; Yonah Hook was the starting center for the Heichal Hornets and played a huge role in their championship season. Both of these transfers will make a huge impact for our team this season.
Players on the JV basketball team are also confident that they can do some real damage in their league this year.
When talking about the JV team, Coach Oz thinks the squad is built deep. He noted that “we don’t have a clear best player yet. We have a lot of talented guys which I always feel is harder to play against.”
Avery Stepner, JV center, said that he thinks the team has “a lot of depth and versatility at every position and can win a championship.”
Stepner is looking to be a huge contributor to the JV team's success after having an important learning experience as a freshman. He hopes he can use his championship experience from his freshman year to lead his team to a back-to-back title.
The JV team is definitely in luck, having one of the best incoming freshman classes that TABC has ever seen. We now have the entire starting five from Yeshivat Noam’s team, which won 3 straight championships. In addition, we’ve added top players such as Noam Seigel, Ikey Rozehzadeh, Shmuel Yablok, Zachary Melzer, and Netanel Eckman.
Both the Varsity and JV teams are looking to have historical seasons. Look for the JV squad to be led by sophomores Avery Stepner and Noam Kinderlehrer. The Varsity team has its key players as well: Jonathan Haberman, Avi Proctor, Alex Ostrin and arguably the best junior in the league, Yoni Mann.