Cinderella story continues, Rochelle Zell TIGERS to play for Championship

The first Tier 1 semi-final game featured the #10 deToledo Jaguars and the #11 Rochelle Zell Tigers. Both teams were looking to continue their cinderella run in the Cooper Invitational.

The 1st quarter began with Brian Silverstein of RZ hitting a great alley-oop layup to start the game. Aidan Waldman of deToledo countered with a bucket followed by Dylan Esulin. Niv Ostroff went 1-2 from the line for RZ, but Liam Evanhaim of deToledo countered with a nice 3-pointer. Ostroff followed with a nice bucket. Joey Miller made a basket and was fouled. After missing the free throw, Lee Farkas got the rebound and turned into two more points. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Jaguars had a slight lead, 15-12 over the Tigers.

The 2nd quarter began with Dorel Cohen hitting a bucket for deToledo. Sammy Vayngart split a pair of free throws at the line for RZ. Yarden Forman countered with his own bucket for deToledo followed by a beautiful 3-pointer from Dorel Cohen. Silverstein poured in two more for the Tigers, but after getting fouled, Evanhaim hit 3 free throws for deToledo. After Farkas split a pair of free throws, the Tigers found themselves down 25-22 at halftime.

Owen Stern got the scoring started for the Tigers as the 3rd quarter started. Silverstein followed with a layup and going 1 for 2 from the line. Ari Rosen kept it going for the Tigers by hitting a 3-pointer. Evanhaim split free throws for the Jaguars, but Vayngart hit both his free throws for the Tigers. After a layup by Evanhaim, Miller countered for the Tigers. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Tigers were up 43-37.

The 4th quarter saw both teams go toe to toe with each other. Plenty of baskets were made by both sides. But the Tigers proved to be too much for the Jaguars, and the Tigers held on to win by a score of 67-61. The Tigers move into the Tier I Championship game to play the winner of the Magen David/Posnack game, while the Jaguars move into the Tier I Consolation game.