Photo by Debbie Davis

Kara Kahn goes up for a layup against two Christ Prep girls. 

The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Varsity boys and girls basketball regular seasons came to a close with the Great Plains Athletic Conference Basketball (GPAC) tournament. The tournament was held during the week of Feb.18-20, 2014 at the Kansas School for the Deaf Campus in Olathe, Kansas.

Before the tournament,  the Boys and Girls Varsity teams were seeded, a preliminary ranking based on the regular season record.To begin the tournament the Girls varsity team had the number four seed. The Boys earned the number three seed.

In the first game of the tournament, held on Tuesday Feb. 18, the girls played the number five seed, the Independence Home School Lions. The Lady Rams fought hard and defeated the Lady Lions 32-25, advancing to the next round of the tournament.

On Tuesday Feb. 18, the Rams Varsity boys played the number six seed, Ozanam. It was a close game between the Rams and Ozanam, but the Rams pulled out on top, defeating Ozanam 50-43. Junior Joel Gutovitz was the high scorer for the Rams with 17 points.

On Wednesday Feb. 19, the Lady Rams lost to the Cristo Rey Lady Pumas 19-53. That evening, the Rams played a very exciting game against the Cristo Rey Pumas. The Rams defeated the Pumas 60-50. The high scorers for the Rams were Senior Matt Kavanaugh with 20 points and Junior Joel Gutovitz with 18 points. The win against Cristo Rey sent the Varsity boys to the championship game of the GPAC tournament.

The last day day of the tournament, Thursday Feb. 20, held the third place game for the Lady Rams against the Christ Prep Academy Patriots.The Lady Rams fought a tough second half but were defeated 28-36, taking home the fourth place spot. Later that evening, the Varsity boys played Christ Prep in the championship game of the GPAC tournament. The Rams ended the first half trailing 18-35. The talented Christ Prep boys won first place and the Rams came home with second. The final score of the game was 48-76. Junior David Liebschutz said, “We fought hard but Christ Prep was a great team and good competition.”

All-tournament teams were announced concluding the boys’ championship game. Coaches from all schools in the GPAC league voted on players to nominate to the all-tournament team. Senior Kara Kahn and Junior Joel Gutovitz were selected for the all-tournament team. This tournament was the last HBHA basketball game for Senior Kara Kahn. “The tournament was really fun,” said Kahn. “Even though we didn’t place as high as we would have liked, it was a great way to end my [HBHA] basketball career. The final game was very exciting and watching the boys play in the championship was awesome.”

The GPAC league also awards girls and boys teams with the highest grade point average a scholar athlete award. Both HBHA Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity teams won this award and had great showings at the tournament. The Lady Rams season has concluded, but the Rams will continue to practice until they travel to New York at the end of March for the Red Saracheck Tournament at Yeshiva University.