[SPORTS I
no paid coaches. Only 11
boys tried out for the
team. But the Akiva Day
School basketball team is alive and
dribbling and ready to begin state
Class D competition next month.
Akiva's roundball program is in
its third season, but this is the first
in which they will play a regular
league schedule. Akiva joined a six-
team league this season, giving them
a 10-game schedule. They will also
play in a tournament for Hebrew
schools in Brookline, Mass. in
February.
The first-year, volunteer co-
coaches are Gary Yashinsky, a physi-
cian who played high school basket-
ball at Oak Park, and Richard Stober,
also an internist, who played at Cass
Tech. The two do not share a medical
practice but have known each other
since high school.
"They're all scrappy kids:' says
Yashinsky of his squad. "They're
lacking in height, but they're other-
wise real good shooters and good
defensive players. And they have a lot
of heart."
To make up for their lack of
height — their tallest player is
6-foot — Yashinsky says Akiva's
team will need to be "quick and
smart. . . make a lot of good plays,
press a lot defensively." •
Realistically, says Yashinsky, "I
just want to be competitive. I think it
would be nice if we could have a win-
ning season, finish .500 or better. But
basically, I'd like to have a com-
petitive team.
"It's the first year in the legue, it's
gonna be rough on these kids."
While the starting lineup is not
set, Yashinsky says that they will
likely use the entire bench. "We have
eight guys who we're gonna inter-
change pretty much the entire game.
Bob McKe own.
have no senior play-
lir hey
ers, no regulation gym,
Coach Richard Stober discusses strategy with the team at a pre-season practice.
Akiva Hoopsters
Battle Odds
Akiva Day School's basketball
team faces a new challenge in its
third year of action
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Sports Writer
Everybody will play, but we have,
pretty much, eight-nine guys who are
gonna come in and out of the game."
The top player appears to be
Noam Koenigsberg. "He's about
6-feet, one of the tallest guys on the
team, he's the center. And I think he
has the most experience playing ball."
The point guard will be Eli Lopin,
son of the school principal. "A little
bit small, (5-feet-5) but he's a tough
guy:' says Yashinsky. The captain is
5-foot-11 forward Joel Finkelman.
There are two Israeli natives on
the team, 5-foot-8 forward Hillel
VanLeeuwen and 5-foot-9 forward
Yariv Misgay. Yashinsky says the two
"seem to know the game and picked
it up real well."
Among the problems the team
faces is the lack of seniors. 12th-
graders from Akiva spend their senior
year studying in Israel. The remain-
ing undergrads also face a rigorous
class schedule. "The kids go to school
practically the whole day;' explains
Yashinsky. "They start school 7:30 in
the morning, they don't get out until
5:10 in the afternoon. They go to
school Sunday mornings, too. As op-
posed to other schools that have more
time, these kids are studying all day
long and then they go home and study
at night. So we only get a chance to
practice a couple times a week.
They're devoted students. The little
time that they have, they're devoting
to basketball."
Practices are another problem.
They practice once a week at Thomp-
son Junior High and once a week at
Akiva. But Akiva's gym is too small
for all-out practice. "The gym is sort
of half-a-gym;' says Yashinsky. "It's
an old floor, it's a tile floor. We've been
trying to get a gym at the Jewish
Center, but they say they're booked
up. . .
"We only practice twice a week, so
the practices that we do have, we'd
like to be hard practices, we'd like to
run the kids a little bit. But this gym
is so small, you can't really run a de-
cent practice."
A more interesting problem the
team could face would be if they made
it to the finals of the state Class D
post-season tournament. The final
game is scheduled for a Saturday,
meaning, of course, that Akiva could
not play. Even if the team reaches the
second round of the tourney, there
could be Saturday games on the
schedule, but Akiva president Steve
Cohen reports that the Michigan
High School Athletic Association has
assured him that those games could
be rescheduled. The title game could
not, but realistically, Akiva need not
worry about that.
Meanwhile, as Yashinsky concen-
trates on this season, he also looks
ROUND UP
Know Any
Good Sports?
If you know of an athlete,
coach or sporting event in the
community which you would
like us to mention in our
sports page, let us know. Call
Mike Rosenbaum at
354-6060, between 9 a.m. and
1 p.m., Monday-Thursday, or
write to us: The Jewish News,
20300 Civic Center Dr., Suite
240, Southfield, MI, 48076.
Hartman Starts
Paying Dues
Mike Hartman of West
Bloomfield is currently play-
ing for the American Hockey
League's Rochester, New York
64
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1987
team. Rochester is the farm
club of the Buffalo Sabres of
the National Hockey League
(NHL).
Hartman, who played in 17
games for Buffalo last season,
had two goals and six assists
in his first 22 games for
Rochegter this year.
Hartman reports that the
Sabres could not send him to
the minors last year at age
19. They had to keep him in
Buffalo or return him to his
amateur team, North Bay, in
the Ontario Hockey League.
Now, at age 20, Hartman says
that Buffalo's organization
wants him to "pay my dues"
in the minors, since he could
not play there last season. He
believes the Sabres see him in
their future plans, but will
probably not call him up to
the NHL this season. The
Sabres want Hartman, a for-
ward, to develop into a grin-
ding, defensive-minded
player, rather than the goal-
scorer he was in junior
hockey.
Prep Basketball
Matt Hoffman scored seven
points and dished out six
assists as North Farmington
dropped a 58-52 decision to
Farmington Harrison Dec. 17.
JCC Crowns
Fall Champs
In an extremely close game
in which the lead changed
hands many times, the
Celtics pulled out a 58-54 win
over the Bucks in the Jewish
Community Center members
only four-on-four basketball
league championship game
Dec. 20. Scott Oshinsky led
all scorers with 22 points for
the Celtics.
In the open league title con-
test, Dave Baxter's 36 points
led the Nets to an 82-58 vic-
tory over the Kings. Matt
Kernan tallied 24 points for
the Kings.
Rec Dept. Plans
Hockey Trip
The Oak Park department
of recreation is planning a
family night trip to watch the
Red Wings play the Los
Angeles Kings at Joe Louis
Arena Jan. 8. The trip will
cost $8 per person and include
bus transportation and an $8
seat. The excursion is design-
ed for Oak Park residents and
their children. Guests must
be approved by the depart-
ment. Deadline for registra-
tion is Jan. 6. For more infor-
mation call 545-6400.
10-Pin News
Mark Sperling of the B'nai
B'rith Bowling Association
reminds bowlers that entries
for the Las Vegas sectional
should be sent immediately.
The 100-team sectional on
March 5-6 is almost complete-
ly filled. Sperling adds that
entries are coming in well for
the metro Detroit sectional,
March 19-20 and March
25-26.