March madness as JCC MetroWest team wins Temple basketball championship

by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Staff Writer

An undermanned JCC MetroWest team exacted revenge for their regular season loss to Temple Har Shalom of Warren with an overpowering 56-41 victory to take the Temple MetroWest Men’s 35-and-over basketball championship on March 10 at the Lautenberg Family JCC of MetroWest in Whippany.

Both squads enjoyed unexpected success in their inaugural season in the three-year-old league: the JCC team finished in a second-place tie with a 7-2 record; THS tied for the third spot at 6-3. To reach the Thursday night showdown, JCC overcame Etz Chaim of Livingston (8-1), while THS beat Sharey Tefilo-Israel of South Orange (6-3) in a semi-final round.

Despite the absence of several players as game time drew near, JCC projected an easy confidence. Team captain Heath Gertner, whose left knee was encased in a cumbersome brace, joked about the prospect of having to play more minutes than usual. “I’m short, slow, and can’t shoot,” he said. “Other than that….”

Across the court, Gary Dobel, a member of the Har Shalom’s cagers, might have sensed the outcome. “It’s been a good run,” he said.

JCC won the opening tip, but both teams had early trouble getting the ball through the net. JCC’s Robel Hernandez finally opened the scoring with a three-point shot. Larry Hurvich, who would finish as THS’ high-scorer (12 points), answered with a long-range missile of his own to keep things close.

JCC’s aggressive defense resulted in several takeaways, leading to some pretty points coming off long bounce passes. By half-time, JCC was sitting on a 10-point lead.

But THS was undaunted by the challenge. “We can do this,” one player said. “Ten points isn’t so much.”

And for a brief period they were right. JCC’s cold shooting at the start of the second half allowed THS to close the gap with eight unanswered points.

That’s when Ron Wright, a 6’6” mortgage broker from West Orange who had already contributed 13 points in the first half, stepped up for JCC. He finished a three-point play with a foul shot, followed immediately by a steal and a bucket to give his team a lead that proved insurmountable.

THS kept drawing close, but JCC kept them at arm’s length. With less than five minutes to play, they slowed the pace, content to let the time tick off the clock. Fatigue was a second opponent for THS as the team desperately tried to catch up. They forced shots and passes, which led to more JCC scores and the final 15-point margin of victory.

Wright was the team’s unofficial game MVP, finishing with 29 points and several key steals and blocked shots. Hernandez was all over the court as well, scoring 14.

THS captain Mark Ruderman, an attorney from Warren, offered a post-mortem. “For our first year, we did pretty well,” he said. “It was a very good experience.

“The team drew closer” over the season, Ruderman, past president of the 450-member synagogue, noted. He praised the dedication of his team and said he looked forward to the next season, when he hopes to field two squads in the league.

Ken Rowan, a United States pretrial services officer, was almost poetic as he spoke of the enjoyment he and JCC his teammates have derived from the sport. “Despite the negative aspects,” such as fatigue and potential injury, “you still enjoy playing,” he said. “The level of passion is almost something [the guys] were brought up with.”

That love was evident after the game when Wright and Hernandez ran out of the gym after the briefest of celebrations. They were hustling to make another game. If they were lucky, they might be there by halftime.

Ron Kaplan can be reached at RKaplan@njjewishnews.com.