Inside Memphis

This past week, the Hebrew Academy basketball team traveled to Memphis to compete in the Cooper Invitational Tournament with 15 other Jewish schools from across the country. Team member Gabe Apoj kept a personal diary during his time there.

Wednesday, November 3, 2016

After landing in Memphis, we went to Krogers, the local supermarket and loaded up on shakes, bananas and water, not expecting there to be much kosher food in Memphis, Tennessee.

We got back to the hotel, and we found out we were wrong. Coach Berman and Coach Bishop had arranged for the local Kosher caterer to make burgers, Southern fried chicken tenders and fries.

Thursday, November 4, 2016

For many of us, it was out first varsity basketball game. After Shacharit at the local yeshiva, we had a hearty breakfast composed of cinnamon rolls, orange juice, blueberry cake, milk and cereal.

We went back to our rooms, blasted music and got ready.

After a powerful speech by our captain, Danny Yerushalmi, we went to the court and started the tournament.

The first game was interesting.

We soon found out our individual strengths and weaknesses, and after a brief deficit we came back and won.

Final score: Warriors- 73,  deToledo-63

Friday, November 5, 2016

After our first win, we were looking forward for the next win. Unfortunately, we lost. We didn’t move the ball enough nor play enough defense. We learned our lesson, and moved forward looking forward to Saturday night’s game against YHS.

Saturday, November 7, 2016

After a long day in and out of the local Yeshiva, Shabbat came to an end and we prepped for our game. We were the first game on Saturday night, and a lot of people came to watch the Warriors play the YHS Storm. It was a game filled with mistakes- we didn’t play enough defense or rebounds- but we still managed to come out with a win.

Sunday, November 8, 2016

It was our last day in Memphis and we had one more game left. We played the JDS Lions and expected a win. The team played hard, got rebounds and distributed the ball well. However, we didn’t stop their star player. 

It was a tough loss, but we got into a huddle: Warriors on three, family on six.