11-9-2014 | HAFTR Hawks Extinguish NSHA Stars 37-33, Capture 2014 Cooper Invitational Championship

11-9-2014 | HAFTR Hawks Extinguish NSHA Stars 37-33, Capture 2014 Cooper Invitational Championship

By: Efraim Wiener

The last game of Cooper Invitational was played with the 6th seeded HAFTR Hawks taking on the 1st seeded NSHA Stars to take home the championship. At the start of the game the Hawk’s Johnathan Greenberg got a fast break layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but from the start he was playing with intensity. He was rebounding well, but was having trouble in the post, and was getting blocked a ton. The Star’s inside defense was simply incredible, but after a while Greenberg started to tear it apart. Abie Perlow of HAFTR was also playing very well, but wasn’t completing his shots and the Stars led by Cody Cohen kept the game very close as the first quarter closed with score tied 7-7.

What really stood out from North Shore was their ball movement. Max Setton’s passing was getting everyone open, and at the start of the second quarter, Isaac Haft drained a three. Throughout the second quarter, Sammy Mandel knocked down a three to keep his team in the game. The two teams were very evenly matched, but Greenberg was giving his team the edge. After the Hawk’s Max Rosner missed a layup, Greenberg came in from behind and got the and-1. Going into halftime, the score was 17-14 with the HAFTR Hawks leading the way.

The second half got underway with North shore hoping to finally get a Cooper Invitational Championship after losing in the finals for the last 2 years. The Stars passing continued to impress, but after the half, the Hawks came out with a newfound intensity. The Stars were missing shots and were fouling a bit too much, but Isaac Haft kept them in the game with his incredible shooting. To add to the comeback, Max Setton drained a three when all hope seemed to be fluttering away. Then Haft shot back-to-back threes to end the quarter with the Stars on top 26-23.

At the start of the final quarter of the Invitational, it seemed like the Stars would be bringing home their first championship. Then the wheels seemed to start falling off the racecar, when HAFTR’s Michael Weissman drained a three, and Perlow made a layup. The Hawks seemed to be in command as they were up by 2 with five minutes remaining.

Cody Cohen answered with two free throws, but it wasn’t enough because HAFTR was on a roll. When the game seemed like it was over, Haft shot another three, and banked it in. In the closing minutes of the game Perlow fouled out, and it was up to his team to finish up the game without him. This is when Greenberg stepped in and put the team on his shoulders and scored a contested layup and Weissman shot a jumper to put the Hawks up by two points with 27 seconds to go. HAFTR held on to win the game and were crowned the 2014 Cooper Invitational Champions. The final score was 37-33, and unfortunately for the Stars, three times was not the charm for them as they have now lost in the Cooper Invitational Championship Game for three consecutive years. The Stars were led by Isaac Haft with 19 points and the Cooper Invitational Champions were led by Jonathan Greenberg with 13 points.