Subscribe to Reporters' Notebook
Gold medal dreams saved: S.F. boys’, girls’ basketball teams deliver11:06 am Tuesday, August 11, 2009by michael lazarus The San Francisco delegation saved its best performances for last. After failing to win a gold medal in any team event in the first three and half days of the 2009 JCCSF Maccabi Games, San Francisco’s boys’ and girls’ 16-and-under basketball teams delivered the much-anticipated gold Aug. 6, the final afternoon of competition. The girls took to the court at University of San Francisco's Memorial Gym first in a rematch against Dallas, the No. 1 seed. With the (score) defeat to Dallas in pool play fresh in the players mind, San Francisco jumped out to a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Dallas kept the game close in the second quarter, but in the third, San Francisco took control. Leading 27-22 with four minutes left, S.F. closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run. Consecutive treys by Hannah Caine and Nikki Greenberg started the streak, and a tough lay-up by Rachel Baskin as time expired sent the crowded gym, almost entirely hometown fans, into “Go S.F.” chants. Dallas climbed back to within eight points with just over two minutes to play, but San Francisco made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to cement the victory, 48-36. “We had a great week,” head coach Adam Feldman said. “Our gold medal game was the best game of the week. We played hard, played defense. It sounds simple, but it was so important.” After winning the gold each of the last two seasons, this year’s team was a wild card, as only two of the nine girls on the team had Maccabi experience. The two, Baskin and Caine, led San Francisco with 16 and 15 points, respectively. With a team gold already secured for San Francisco, the boys faced Dallas in the final event of the Games. Led by Noah Springwater, San Francisco simply dominated Dallas. In the second half, San Francisco always held at least a double-digit lead, en route to a 51-36 victory. “Playing determined defense was the key – limiting their open shots,” Springwater said. “Dallas was by far the best team we played, they deserved to be here.” Springwater paced San Francisco scorers with 17, as Armand Gray added 15 and Matt Schneider and Micah Sokolsky both tacked on 6. For Springwater, the gold medal game victory wrapped up a whirlwind month of July. The University High star was a member of the U.S. team that also took home gold at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. While the Maccabiah may be a bigger stage, the Maccabi Games had extra significance for Springwater. “There’s always stress being the home team,” he said. “We were fortunate enough to hold off some good teams.” Permalink Leave a comment Spread the Word E-mail a friend CommentsBe the first to comment! Leave a Comment
In order to post a comment, you must first log in. |
Search
Archives
Subscribe