Athletic News Detail
Varsity Boys' Basketball Travels to Memphis for Preseason Invitational
The Scheck Hillel varsity basketball team will begin its preseason on the road participating in the Cooper Yeshiva High School National Invitational Basketball Tournament, November 2-5, in Memphis, Tennessee.
The tournament is the second largest yeshiva high school athletic event in North America and was founded to provide young men from across the country an opportunity to meet, interact, learn from, and develop friendships with, their counterparts across the country.
The tournament creators hope to break down the geographic walls that sometimes separate young adults, and to bring everyone together to instill a greater sense of Jewish pride and self-worth.
This is the second time the Lions have participated in the tournament, having gone two seasons ago.
"I am very much looking forward to our trip to Memphis this weekend for the Cooper Invitational," said Head Coach Craig Mankoff. "It is a 16-team national tournament and shabbaton, and is a great way to prepare and team build for the regular season. With a lot of newcomers and sophomores, it is a great way for us to bond and grow as a team."
Coach Mankoff is also excited about the amount of talent the team has this year. Among the top returners are seniors Benjamin Brener and Benjamin Givner, both of which have played on the varsity squad since their sophomore year.
"Givner has shown great leadership through training camp, and is the type of player who is always in the right place at the right time," boasted Coach Mankoff. "Brener will be our force in the middle, and I'm looking forward to seeing him have a strong senior season."
Other key returners for the Lions include juniors Salomone Rosenthal, Yaniv Assraf and Aaron Ben-Shmuel who coach said all should be major contributors in the backcourt, giving the team a great deal of depth. The team has also brought along five sophomores from the junior varsity team who have worked hard to make the varsity squad.
Over the last few weeks, the team has been practicing nonstop to prepare for not only this invitational but the upcoming season. They have all been competing for their spot while trying to find a way to learn the team dynamic. Learning the offense and defense of the team has been a challenge for some of them but over time they have gotten comfortable in their roles.
"What I like about this team is that there is not a single, go-to player," explained Coached Mankoff. "We have a number of guys who could carry us on a given night. I think we are beginning to develop an understanding of what our individual roles are, and how each player can contribute to making us a better and more complete team."
He also said the dynamic and camaraderie are both good, and he thinks that will continue this weekend as they travel and play their first games together as the 2017-18 Lions.
These guys have been working hard and look forward to seeing the students, family and alumni come out and support them at home this year.
"We will compete hard and play an exciting brand of basketball," He said. "We hope to make our home court a tough place to play for our opponents with our passion and determination as a team, along with the help of our fans."
The Lions' first game is against Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, today, November 2, at 1pm (12pm central time). You can check out the broadcast and find schedules at www.cooperinvitational.com.
Also be sure to follow us on Twitter for all our game-day updates! @eHillelLions
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The tournament creators hope to break down the geographic walls that sometimes separate young adults, and to bring everyone together to instill a greater sense of Jewish pride and self-worth.
This is the second time the Lions have participated in the tournament, having gone two seasons ago.
"I am very much looking forward to our trip to Memphis this weekend for the Cooper Invitational," said Head Coach Craig Mankoff. "It is a 16-team national tournament and shabbaton, and is a great way to prepare and team build for the regular season. With a lot of newcomers and sophomores, it is a great way for us to bond and grow as a team."
Coach Mankoff is also excited about the amount of talent the team has this year. Among the top returners are seniors Benjamin Brener and Benjamin Givner, both of which have played on the varsity squad since their sophomore year.
"Givner has shown great leadership through training camp, and is the type of player who is always in the right place at the right time," boasted Coach Mankoff. "Brener will be our force in the middle, and I'm looking forward to seeing him have a strong senior season."
Other key returners for the Lions include juniors Salomone Rosenthal, Yaniv Assraf and Aaron Ben-Shmuel who coach said all should be major contributors in the backcourt, giving the team a great deal of depth. The team has also brought along five sophomores from the junior varsity team who have worked hard to make the varsity squad.
Over the last few weeks, the team has been practicing nonstop to prepare for not only this invitational but the upcoming season. They have all been competing for their spot while trying to find a way to learn the team dynamic. Learning the offense and defense of the team has been a challenge for some of them but over time they have gotten comfortable in their roles.
"What I like about this team is that there is not a single, go-to player," explained Coached Mankoff. "We have a number of guys who could carry us on a given night. I think we are beginning to develop an understanding of what our individual roles are, and how each player can contribute to making us a better and more complete team."
He also said the dynamic and camaraderie are both good, and he thinks that will continue this weekend as they travel and play their first games together as the 2017-18 Lions.
These guys have been working hard and look forward to seeing the students, family and alumni come out and support them at home this year.
"We will compete hard and play an exciting brand of basketball," He said. "We hope to make our home court a tough place to play for our opponents with our passion and determination as a team, along with the help of our fans."
The Lions' first game is against Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, today, November 2, at 1pm (12pm central time). You can check out the broadcast and find schedules at www.cooperinvitational.com.
Also be sure to follow us on Twitter for all our game-day updates! @eHillelLions
