Varsity Boys Basketball vs. HAFTR

SAR's Season Comes to a Close at the Hands of HAFTR

February 26th, 2014- Varsity Boys Basketball lost to HAFTR on Thursday night 47-36, ending their season.
This quarterfinal matchup was surrounded by hype, as SAR eliminated most of the HAFTR players from the playoffs two years in a row (JV two years ago, and Varsity last season). Needless to say, at the opening tip, the HAFTR gym was packed.
In the first quarter, HAFTR jumped out to an early 12-4 lead, but SAR cut it to 14-8 by the end of the quarter. SAR kept it a single digit game for most of the second quarter, but HAFTR's Alec Schonfeld hit a big three-pointer before the half to stretch the Hawks' lead to 25-14.
In the third quarter, the Sting's defense clamped up, and held HAFTR to two points in the first 5:30 to cut the lead to 27-20. However, HAFTR scored two huge baskets in the final 2:30 to bring the lead back to 11 and stall SAR's momentum. 
In the fourth quarter, the Sting had opportunities to close the gap, but the Hawks always seemed to have an answer, and held onto win by 11.
Senior Josh Shenwick led the Sting with 11 points, and was closely followed by seniors Sammy Marcus (9 points), Daniel Jonas, (7 points) and Sammy Hyman (7 points).
For the seniors, this ends a great four year run. They made the playoffs all four years, won a championship as sophomores, and perhaps most importantly, always represented the school in the greatest possible way. Thank you to Marcus, Hyman, Shenwick, Jonas, Zach Wohlberg, Jared Frenkel, Josh Deutsch, Jacob Saks, Moshe Schwartz, Ethan Metzger and Ethan "Red Mamba" Schorr for all of their contributions to SAR basketball.

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Varsity Girls Basketball vs. HAFTR

Balanced Scoring Attack Helps Lead SAR to Victory Over HAFTR
February 26th, 2014- Varsity Girls Basketball defeated HAFTR 42-26 on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the Yeshiva League playoffs.
SAR started their scoring attack with a three-pointer by senior Sara Waxman and received timely baskets from junior Rebecca Packer and seniors Samantha Hollenberg and Sofie Levinson to jump out to a 14-6 lead after one quarter. 
In the second quarter, sophomore Dahlia Fischer hit the ground running offensively, and helped stretch SAR's lead to 24-11 at the half. 
In the third quarter, Fischer continued to dictate the pace of the game, both as a scorer and a distributor. Unlike their past two games, where the team experienced third quarter meltdowns, SAR ended the third quarter with a comfortable 37-17 lead. While HAFTR hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, they never seriously threatened, as SAR rolled to a 16 point win.
Fischer led SAR with 12 points, Packer scored nine, and Hollenberg added seven in the win. Levinson helped the cause as well, scoring five points while dominating the boards and playing terrific defense. 
The Lady Sting will be out for revenge against Frisch, who beat them twice this season, in the semifinals.

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JV Boys Basketball vs. TABC

Behind Smith's heroics, Sting Advance to the Semifinals
By Michael Courtney
February 26th, 2014- SAR JV Boys Basketball defeated TABC in the quarterfinal round in true nail-biter fashion.  The game was neck and neck throughout in a defensive slugfest, with no team taking a large lead.  After being held to only two points in the first, SAR scored 11 in the second quarter.  For the night, the Sting hit four 3-pointers, including two by Eitan Hain and one each by Michael Klein and Eli Friedman, accounting for 12 of the team's points.  Hain led SAR with 8 points overall while Ariel Smith and Michael Klein played shut-down defense on TABC's best offensive player, Tai Gerzberg, through a tight box and one matchup.  However, the night belonged to Smith.  Tied at 26, TABC scored with 44 seconds to play.  With 16 seconds to go, Simon Kofman missed the first of two free throws after making a great drive to the hoop.  He cramped up yet courageously fought through the pain and swished the second to go down one.  SAR immediately fouled TABC and their big man missed the first of a one and one with SAR getting the defensive rebound.  Smith took the ball and went coast to coast, driving without fear and draining a short jumper despite getting fouled (but no foul call) with 4.4 seconds to play.  With SAR up one, TABC called timeout.  The SAR defense stiffened up and won the thriller.  On to Flatbush for the semis! 

JV Boys Hockey vs. DRS

Rosenberg puts SAR into Round Two

February 23, 2014- In a matchup between SAR and the heavily favored DRS Wildcats, SAR came out with a huge first round overtime win. The teams were locked in a classic, as neither team was able to light up the scoreboard in regulation. With the stakes high as can be, eight minutes into OT  Soph. Josh Rosenberg squeezed a goal through the pipes to give SAR its first ever playoff win against DRS, a long time hockey power. With the win, SAR moves onto the second round and will take on another hockey giant, TABC, on the road. Jonah Amron played the game of his life, protecting his net in a Bar David-esque shutout performance. Coach Howie Falkenstein of the varsity team was ecstatic, and took to twitter after the game. 

Congrats to sar jv @StingReport on heroic playoff win at drs#curseisover#rosieforpresident
— Howie Falkenstein (@TheDevilsFan) February 23, 2014

This is a huge win, and SAR looks to ride this momentum on into Teaneck for round two. 

#Allin

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Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Kushner

SAR Defeats Kushner; Punches Ticket to the Quarterfinals

February 20th, 2014- After defeating Kushner handily two weeks ago, it appeared as if the Sting would roll to an easy victory over the Cobras in tonight's first round playoff game. However, as any basketball fan knows, any team can win on any given night (just look at last night's Syracuse-Boston College game for proof).
After giving up a quick basket to senior forward Josh Shenwick, Kushner attempted to slow the game down passing the ball around the top of SAR's 2-3 zone. Despite this, the Sting still managed to score 14 first quarter points, including two baskets from senior center Sammy Marcus and a big three-pointer (and ensuing JR Smith celebration) from senior guard Jared Frenkel, to take a 14-10 lead at the quarter's end.
In the second quarter, Kushner finally got the game they wanted, holding SAR to just eight points. However, they were only able to score four of their own, and headed into the locker room down by eight. 
SAR had a chance to pull away to start the second half, but were only able to muster up three points in the entire third quarter. Kushner was not much better, but thanks to a big three-pointer from Matthew Stadtmauer, the Cobras were able to trim the deficit to 25-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Cobras, led by senior star Mordechai Weiss, furiously rallied to try to take the lead. However, the Sting seemed to always have a response to prevent Kushner from doing so. Marcus, Hyman and senior guard Daniel Jonas each came up with big shots late in the game, and Hyman hit two free throws with 13.2 seconds to go to give SAR a 34-30 lead. Weiss scored again for Kushner with seconds left on the clock, but SAR held on and won by two.
Marcus led SAR with nine points, Jonas had seven, and both Hyman and Frenkel scored five in the win.
Weiss led all scorers with 14 points, and Stadtmauer added seven in the loss.
SAR will now travel out to the Five Towns this Wednesday to take on the HAFTR Hawks in the Yeshiva League Quarterfinals.

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Wrestling- Wittenberg Recap

SAR Takes 3rd at Wittenberg Tournament
By Kevin Danishefsky

February 16th, 2014- SAR finished 3rd out of the 14 teams that competed in the 2014 Henry Wittenberg Wrestling Invitational, only bettered by 2nd place Kushner, and 1st place TABC. Sophomore Jeremy Berger and Junior Alexander Haberman each won their respective weight classes of 113 lb, and 285 lb. Berger beat TABC’s Robert Elsas to take home the first place trophy, successfully avenging his loss from last year. Haberman defeated TABC’s Leo Metzger, pinning him with 1:34 to go in the first period. Senior captain Josh Shaw finished 2nd, losing a heartbreaker 3-1 to Kushner’s Coby Kestler in the 132 lb finals, ending an amazing career for the man who has been the heart and soul of the team since its inception. Others also had very successful tournaments. Sophomore Jonathan Weiner finished 3rd in the 126 lb weight class, defeating New Community’s Alex Feldman. This caps off a year of hard work for Weiner, who, along with Berger and Haberman, attended Ken Chertow’s Super Gold Training Camp during the summer, which is a 2 week wrestling program known to be incredibly grueling. Freshman Kenny Burnstien, Sophomore Aidan Smolar, and Junior Cfir Feinberg all placed 4th in their weight classes at 195 pounds, 182 pounds, and 120 pounds, respectively. They all fell just short of the podium, but all received well-deserved trophies for their accomplishments. Freshman Leo Weiner placed 5th at 120 pounds, and Junior Max Orman-Kollmar did the same at 220 pounds. Ben Perla, Zach Smart, and Liav Garbuz all fell just short of being place winners, each finishing 6th. While SAR coaches Zach Kahan, Eric Samson, and Ron Simchi were pleased with the 3rd place result, they were not satisfied. Coach Samson stated that “In 19 years, since Wittenberg’s inception, only 4 teams have finished in the top three 2 years in a row. This year, SAR has broken that streak.” However, he also vowed that “next year we will win”. The SAR Wrestling team is a walk-on team, so anybody can join regardless of weight, height, or physical shape. There is no prior wrestling knowledge needed, so any SAR student interested in helping SAR build on this year’s success is welcome to join the team next year. Go Sting!!


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Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Heschel

Marcus' Big Night Helps Sting Cool Off the Heat

February 8th, 2014- In last week's battle between two of the top teams in the Yeshiva League, Varsity Boys Basketball defeated the Heschel Heat by a score of 45-43. 
The Sting were coming off of a 50-21 win against Kushner in which they used a balanced scoring attack- no player scored more than eight points. This game, however, was different. Senior center Sammy Marcus dominated from the get-go, pouring in 21 points. Seniors Daniel Jonas and Sammy Hyman also had big games, scoring 11 and nine points, respectively.
"We came confident and knew we could win", said Marcus.
Despite suffering tough losses to Frisch (twice), TABC and Ramaz earlier in the season, SAR heads into the playoffs with confidence, proving that they can hang in with any team in the league. 
The Sting end their season at 10-4, and they will host Kushner in the first round of the playoffs on Thursday at 8:00 PM.

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JV Girls Basketball vs. Frisch

Lady Sting Defeat Frisch To Earn The Top Seed in the Playoffs

February 4th, 2014- Last night, JV Girls Basketball traveled to Frisch with a chance to win the division and earn the first seed in the playoffs. As the game started, the Lady Sting were confident, but they soon found themselves in an 11-7 hole after one quarter of play. During the second quarter, SAR was determined to pull ahead. Their defense was great, but on the offensive side, they weren’t hitting their shots. SAR trailed 17-10 at the half, but they were not going to give up; losing was not an option. They were ready to push themselves for the last 16 minutes of the game. 

In the third quarter, Frisch, led by Julia Reichel, continued their strong play. Jessica Hecht scored a buzzer beater to bring the score to 27-20 at the end of the third quarter, but SAR still had a major deficit to overcome.
In the fourth quarter, SAR was determined to not going to let Reichel score anymore. This plan was successful, and SAR took a 30-29 lead with two minutes to go. This was their chance they weren't going to let it go. With the game winding down, Rebecca Hyman went to the line three times, and made four of six free throws to clinch a 37-31 victory. Rebecca Kann led SAR with 15 points, and Hyman was right behind with 11 points. Reichel led the Cougars with 16 in the loss.
The Lady Sting finish the regular season with an 8-2 record. Their next game is a first round home playoff game against either Flatbush or Central. We wish them the best of luck in their quest for a championship

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