About the Tournament

Cooper Invitational VI Tournament Date: October 25-28, 2012

In only a few short years, the Cooper Yeshiva High School National Invitational Basketball Tournament, hosted by the Margolin Hebrew Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, has become the second largest yeshiva high school athletic event in North America. The Invitational, which runs Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning, includes a top tier sixteen team national basketball event, and a meaningful Shabbaton immersed in “southern hospitality.” Athletes, coaches and chaperones stay as guests in the beautiful DoubleTree Hotel – Memphis and compete in the collegiate caliber basketball facility at the Memphis Jewish Community Center.

Perhaps more than anything else, this event was founded so as to provide young men from across the country an opportunity to meet, interact, learn from and develop friendships with their counterparts across the country; to break down the geographic walls that sometimes separate our young adults; and to bring everyone together to instill a greater sense of Jewish pride and self-worth.

Looking forward to hosting ya’ll in Memphis!

2011 Highlight Reel

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Newsflash:

JHA
Heschel
HANC
MAYHS
Ramaz
YDH
Shalhevet

“The Tournament of the Millennium”

JewishHoopsAmerica.com

Judith TumninGrade Dean, The Heschel School, New York, New York

"From the pump-up website to the beautiful program book, to the webcasting so our faraway supporters could be with us, you have created a little miracle in Memphis."

Rabbi Moshe Stavsky, Principal, HANC, Uniondale, New York

"It was truly an inspirational event for all involved and the southern hospitality was felt by everyone. As a Principal of a “New York” school, I see great value in exposing our students to other kids from all over the U.S. and having them get to know one another. Thank you again for this opportunity."

Joel FelderHead Coach, Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School Jaguars, South River, NJ

""Southern hospitality" has a new meaning in my dictionary."

Judith FaginHead of School, Ramaz, New York, New York

"This event was a great opportunity for our students and we thank you and your entire community for your warm and gracious southern hospitality. We truly appreciated the opportunity."

Rabbi Yisroel Grossberg, Principal, Yeshiva Derech HaTorah, Brooklyn, New York

"Had the boys returned with only the excitement of having played basketball it would have been nice, however the fact that they have not stopped talking about the entire "Memphis Experience" is truly a wonderful sight. From the hospitality to the enjoyable Shabbat meals, the general ruach that permeated the entire tournament left an indelible imprint on our boys. Friendships were forged and self -confidence was built. Our students learned about being part of the greater Jewish community."

Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach, Head of School, Shalhevet, Los Angeles, California

"What a fabulous tournament!"

Our editors are adding news stories and comments throughout the action during the tournament. Click the newspaper icon above for all recent articles in a newspaper style layout.

11-13-2011 | Beren Stars Shine Brighter than NSHA Stars, win Tier 2 Championship 61-33

Article Coming Soon!

11-13-2011 | Frisch Cougars escape flames of Hillel Heat, 45-43, win Tier 1 5th Place

By Terri Graber

Two teams from New Jersey, the Hillel Heat and the Frisch Cougars, met up in Memphis for the Tier 1 5th place prize. First quarter play saw four lead changes as these equally matched teams took the floor. The Heat widened the lead three minutes into the second quarter, leading 17-12, but Frisch came back with two quick buckets by Bouaziz and Fishman. Heat guard, Zack Ashkenazi, who had 5 three pointers against the Cooper Yeshiva Macs in semi-final play, pumped in his first 3 of the day, followed by a bucket by Frisch's Judah Cohen and two free throws by Josh Ottensoser. Unable to capitalize on a steal, the Heat went to the line after drawing a foul, missing both free throws; Frisch down by three. Jacob Shapiro went for a long three and was fouled by the Heat, but couldn't buy a free throw. The Heat led at the half, 22-19.

And just like that, the Heat's Zack Ashkenazi hit his second three-pointer on an inbound pass to start the second half, followed by Firsch guard Seth Schlussel hitting a layup in rapid succession. Then, the Heat stole the ball and laid in a bucket. Not to be outdone, Schlussel got a steal and drew a non-shooting foul. Al Sultan of the Heat hit two free throws, followed by two from Liam Shapiro. The Heat's Benjamin hit a bucket, followed by a layup by Ashenazi on a steal. Frisch's Jacob Shapiro hit a bucket, drew a foul and capitalized on the "and 1," ending the third quarter down by 2.

Edward Benjamin of the Heat hit the first six points of the fourth quarter, increasing the Heat's lead to 5. The teams exchanged baskets until Judah Cohen drained a 3 and Ottensoser laid in a bucket to give Firsch a one point lead. Frisch got another steal with less than 2 minutes to play, but lost the ball out of bounds. Shapiro, Ottensoser, and Judah Cohen put in a 4 free throws to bolster the lead for Frisch. With 8.5 seconds left in the game, Frisch missed a layup giving the ball to the Heat. In a heart breaker for the Heat, the game went to Frisch who won the game 45-43.

11-13-2011 | NCJHS Jaguars Claw past Fasman Yeshiva 56-51, Claim Tier 2 Third Place

By Akiva Somer

The Tier 2 Consolation Game found the Fasman Yeshiva going up against the NCJHS Jaguars. In the first quarter, both Fasman Yeshiva and the Jaguars started off with a very balanced game. Then, in only 2 minutes, the Jaguars went on a 7-0 run. The Fasman Yeshiva team got very angry with that run, and played tremendous defense to come back to only be down by points at the end of the first quarter, 14-10.

In the second quarter, Fasman maintained their fierce defense. However, the Jaguars were very hard to defend. With a score of 20-17, Ari Silberstein hit a three to tie it up 20-20. The Jaguars get a little fiery themselves and go on a 5-0 run, to end the half winning 25-20.

Both teams start off strong in the third quarter. Mitch Kohananoo of Fasman hits a three very early in the third. The game has really been in anyone's hands from the beginning, and the 3rd quarter ends with both teams tied at 38.

The fourth quarter started off with exchanged baskets. Back and forth between the Jaguars and Fasman, each time hitting shot after shot and the score began to run up. With 3:40 left in the game, the Jaguars led 46-44. Although Fasman would not go away, the Jaguars just had a drop more today and they went on to win, 56-51. Edan Evenhaim had 22 points for the Jaguars, and Ari Silberstein had 19 points for Fasman Yeshiva in a losing effort.

11-13-2011 | Cooper Macs Win Tier 1 7th Place, defeat Hillel Hurricanes, 39-29

By Lee Baum

The battle for Tier 1 7th place pitted the Hillel Hurricanes against the home team Cooper Yeshiva Macs. The game started out quickly with Joseph Ammar of Hillel Miami hitting two 3-pointers to take an easy lead. Then the Cooper Macs settled in and took the lead 10-6. The 2 teams then traded baskets and the Macs ended the first quarter ahead, 12-10.

The Macs came out fast in the second quarter, scoring the first 5 points and extending their lead to 17-10. The quarter went back and for and ended with Joseph Ammar hitting his third 3-pointer of the game with 3 Cooper defenders all over him as the buzzer sounded. The Macs held on to a 21-19 lead to go into halftime.

Miami came out in the second half and tied the game up as Cooper struggled to get anything going offensively. Midway through the quarter, the Macs regained their shooting touch with consecutive baskets from Bryan Itkowitz and Eli Osdoba to go up 28-22. After a couple of Miami turnovers, the Macs hit a shot in the closing seconds of the third quarter to extend their lead to 32-22. Hot shooting Joseph Ammar was held scoreless in the quarter, thanks to stifling defense from Eli Osdoba as Miami only scored 3 points in the quarter.

Ammar started off the fourth quarter with a quick 3-pointer off an inbounds pass to cut Cooper's lead to 7. The Macs then went back out to a 36-25 lead off 2 free throws and a driving layup from Eli Osdoba. After a timeout, Miami hit two straight baskets to cut the lead to 7 once again. The Macs then missed 5 out of 7 free throws to keep the game within reach at 38-29. The final score ended up 39-29 as the Cooper Macs held on for victory. The high scorer for the Macs was Eli Osdoba, with 23 points. The high scorer for Miami was Joseph Ammar with 12.