11-7-2014 | Kings Royal; Stave off Macs, 39-32

11-7-2014 | Kings Royal; Stave off Macs, 39-32

By: Shmuel Perl

In a game to see who would make the Tier II semis, the hometown Cooper Macs faced off against the Kohelet Kings. The Macs scored first, when JJ Kampf made two free throws. The Macs built on their lead when David Silbermann stole the ball and got it ahead to JJ Kampf for the fast break layup. The Kings scored their first bucket when Erez Galfand hit a corner three, and took the lead on an Aaron Simmens basket. The Macs responded with a 9-0 run, led by the play of star point guard JJ Kampf. The Kings battled back, and made the score 13-9 at the end of the first.

Aaron Simmens hit a free throw to start the scoring in the second, and Ben Kaplan followed it up with a second chance layup. An Erez Galfand free throw with four minutes left in the half tied up the game, and another free throw by Ben Kaplan gave the Kings the lead. The Kings hot streak continued as Aaron Simmens made a three to put Kohelet up by four. Aviv Yarimi hit two free throws to end the second, and Kohelet went into the break with a 19-13 lead.

The Macs started out the third quarter strong, with a steal and layup by Yonatan Cooper. The Kings hit a free throw, but a Yonatan Cooper three made it a two point game. Kohelet responded with a 4-0 run led by the play of big man Aaron Simmens. Both teams scored twice, and at the end of the third Kohelet led 29-22.

JJ Kampf hit a three to open the fourth, but Aaron Simmens responded with a three of his own for Kohelet. The Macs hit another three, but once again Kohelet responded with a three of its own. The shootout continued as Mark Fertel hit a corner three to cut the Kings lead to four, but Noam Lipschutz made a coast to coast layup to make the score 37-31. With 42 seconds left, Erez Galfand made two clutch free throws, and Kohelet hung on to win 39-31. The high scorer for Cooper was JJ Kampf with 11, and the high scorer for Kohelet was Aaron Simmens with 14.