GOA Competes at Weiner Family Basketball Tournament

By Mimi Lebeau ‘24
    After a 15-year hiatus, GOA returned to compete in the Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Basketball Tournament this season. 

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Both GOA’s boys and girls varsity basketball teams played against other Jewish schools from the United States and Canada. The GOA girls team took home third place and the GOA boys team came in fourth place. 
Senior girls varsity player Giselle Weiss said, “While we came to play basketball, Weiner was so much more than that. It was incredible to meet other Jewish students from across North America and spend Shabbat all together.”
    The games took place at Beth Tfiloh (BT) Dahan Community School in Baltimore Maryland. Aside from the BT Warriors, GOA also played against Akiba Yavneh Academy of Dallas, Abraham Joshua Heschel School of New York City, and Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (CHAT). The GOA boys and girls teams each played six games within four days. CHAT won the girls' tournament and BT won the boys' tournament. 
    GOA students were divided among local families who hosted them for the duration of the tournament, allowing them to get to know members of the BT community.     
On the first day of the tournament, GOA boys and girls teams played Yavneh and BT. While both GOA teams lost to Yavneh, the GOA girls beat the BT girls with a final score of 20-19. 
    The next day, both GOA teams played against Heschel and CHAT. The GOA girls beat Heschel but lost to CHAT, while the GOA boys beat CHAT but lost to Heschel. Nevertheless, both GOA teams secured spots in the semi-finals, the girls with a #3 seed and the boys with a #4 seed. 
    That night, GOA players had the opportunity to socialize with players from other schools at a nearby bowling alley and arcade. 
Senior girls varsity player and photographer Adina Newman said, “Bowling with the other Jewish schools was so much fun. I thought it was a great experience to have with the different schools rather than only being with them on the courts. Bowling was a nice break from playing basketball all the time.” 
    The following day, both GOA teams had a bye so while the other schools started their mornings with games, GOA got to rest before their semi-final games later that day. Coincidentally, both GOA teams faced off against Yavneh in the semi-finals, yet GOA neither team won. 
    That night, players enjoyed Shabbat dinner with their host family and other host families in the area, allowing them to get to know other players being hosted nearby. 
Junior girls varsity player Aly Biloon said, “My host family was the best! They held a Shabbat dinner for over 50 people; anyone who was hosting kids was welcome from the neighborhood. It was so fun talking to kids my age from other schools all over the country. Shabbos dinner was a great way to celebrate Shabbat with the Baltimore community.”
    On Shabbat morning, all players attended the synagogue at Beth Tfiloh Congregation and spent Shabbat at Beth Tfiloh meeting other players, playing basketball and relaxing. 
Sophomore girls varsity player Marley Fischer said, “​​Spending Shabbat at BT was an amazing experience. I had Shabbat dinner with my host family and other host families from the tournament. I was able to make new friends, play with other siblings from families, and learn about the community. We also walked to Shul in the morning and it seemed as though the entire town was there praying. I can't wait to go again next year!”
Players also attended special programming including a guest speaker, interactive Torah study with BT’s Rabbi in residence and singing. Shabbat ended with a Havdalah service in which all the players came together to welcome the new week. 
    Once Shabbat ended, the basketball games started up again. The Heschel girls and CHAT boys teams played against BT’s junior varsity girls and junior varsity boys teams, where both BT teams won. 
    The GOA girls' team (third seed) then faced off against the BT girls' team (fourth seed) and won, securing the third-place title. Next, the GOA boys team (fourth seed) played Heschel (third seed) for the third-place title but did not win, leaving them in fourth place overall. 
    The tournament culminated with the boys' and girl's championship games. For the girls, CHAT (first seed) beat Yavneh (second seed) for first place while for the boys, BT (second seed) upset Yavneh (first seed) giving BT the home victory. 
    The night ended with an awards ceremony rewarding both boys' and girl's second and first-place teams as well as individual player awards. 
Junior Yaelle Messulan and senior Ari Komorovski received character awards. Junior Aly Biloon made the second team and seniors Giselle Weiss and Joey Askin made the first team.
    Boys team manager Doron Finkel said, “I made a ton of new friends and strong connections that have the potential to last a lifetime.”
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