11-5-2015 | Cooper Macs win overtime Thriller over North Shore Stars, 56-54

11-5-2015 | Cooper Macs win overtime Thriller over North Shore Stars, 56-54

By: Akiva Finkelstein

The last game of Cooper Invitational opening day featured the home town #6 seeded Cooper Yeshiva High School Macs against the #11 seeded North Shore Hebrew Academy Stars. The tip off went to the Cooper Macs, as Jeffrey Owen scored the first points for the Macs. Owen got to the rim a bunch, putting up 9 points in the first quarter. Ari Warshaw was good for North Shore, adding some key buckets early on. It was back and forth the whole quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, North Shore played great defense and got some easy buckets. Mark Fertel had five points in the half. Leading Scorers at the half were Owen for the Macs with 12 points and Warsaw for the Stars with 7 points. North Shore ended the half up by two, 28-26.

In the 3rd Quarter, North Shore led by about four throughout. After a clutch steal and basket by Gabe Itkowitz, the Macs tied the game. North Shore did get their lead back to two though with 1:30 to go in the quarter. Mitchell Hutt, Michael Livi, and Warshaw were all big scorers for North Shore, and Owen remained the top scorer for Cooper. North Shore finished strong, and had 41-37 lead at the end of the quarter.

In the 4th Quarter, North Shore held on to their small lead, but Cooper kept fighting. They had some sloppy plays, but were able to keep stay within a few points of the Stars. Cooper took their first lead in a while after some important free throws from JJ Kampf. North Shore bounced right back after with a layup by Ryan Levian. It was back and forth for the last five minutes, with each team taking control at different points. JJ Kampf had a huge three, tying the game with three minutes to go. The Macs got to a two point lead with 1:49 to go. Kampf and Owen were big for the Macs, and Hutt was important for North Shore. With the Macs up by 2 points with only a few seconds left, Aaron Levian hit two clutch free throws to tie the game up. The game went into overtime, keeping the fans on edge.

In overtime, Owen hit a three to get things going for the Macs. Cooper took an early lead, and the game got so intense that Kampf’s shoe fell off. North Shore hit some clutch free throws down the stretch, but a nice layup by Owen gave Cooper a two point lead with 35 seconds to go. This was a nail biter that came down to the wire, but it ended 56-54 with the hometown Macs taking the victory. Jeffrey Owen was the leading scorer for the Macs with 20 points, while the Stars were led by Mitchell Hutt with 12 points. The Macs remain in Tier 1 and will face the HAFTR Hawks on Friday morning, while the Stars drop into Tier 2.