SEPTEMBER 23 • 2021 | 41

T

here couldn’t have 
been a more exciting 
finish to the first 
season of an improbable 
league.
Young Israel of Oak Park 
and a team headed by Dylan 
Bressler locked up in a 
close battle in the playoff 
championship game of the 
new Detroit Shul Basketball 
League last month at Farber 
Hebrew Day School in 
Southfield.
Down by eight points 
with about two minutes left, 
Young Israel of Oak Park 
called a timeout.
“We were nervous. We 
needed to do something,” 
said player Avi Katz.
What Young Israel of Oak 
Park did was go back to what 
made it a successful team all 
season long.
“Play good defense. Get 
good shots. Play unselfish 
basketball,” Katz said.
Ruslan Shamayev sank 
a layup with less than 10 
seconds to go put Young 
Israel of Oak Park in front 
70-69.
A Bressler player missed 
two free throws just before 
the buzzer, and Young Israel 
of Oak Park was the league 
champion.
Competition was a big 
part of the weekly league, 
of course. So was the 

camaraderie among the 
players on the five teams.
“It was a friendly league. 
There were no issues among 
the players,” Katz said. “It 
seemed like everyone in the 
league knew each other and it 
was fun to hang out together 
each week.”
The league was put 
together over a few frantic 
days in early July 
by 20-year-old 
basketball fan 
Daniel Shamayev, 
who used social 
media and other 
communication 
tools to get the 
word out about 
the league.
Mother Nature didn’t 
help much after the league 
schedule was set.
Opening night and a 
playoff night were canceled 
and had to be rescheduled 
because of power outages 
caused by storms.
About 40 men from 
Orthodox shuls played in 
the league. Many of them 
are Farber grads, like Daniel 
Shamayev. Referees were paid 
to officiate games, with the 
money coming from team 
fees.
“Daniel Shamayev did 
a great job organizing the 
league,” Katz said. “I was 
very impressed with his 

enthusiasm. It was so good to 
have something like this to 
do after COVID shut things 
down for such a long time.”
Katz and his brother Yoni 
Katz were joined on the 
Young Israel of Oak Park 
team by Ruslan Shamayev 
(no relation to Daniel 
Shamayev), Josh Sabes, Alex 
Gross, Yitsy Sternheim, Yossi 
Gottfried and Yosef Klein.
The players range in age 
from their 20s to about 40.
“Josh Sabes 
helped me put 
the team together. 
He’s a great guy,” 
Avi Katz said.
Ruslin 
Shamayev played 
basketball for 
Berkley High School. Gross 
played basketball for Farber 
and Berkley. The Katz 
brothers both were Farber 
basketball players.
“Even though we’d never 
been on the same basketball 
team together, we all know 
each other and a lot of 
us have played basketball 
together,” Avi Katz said.
“It was a group effort for us 
all season long. We all helped 
the team, from making sure 
we knew when our games 
were scheduled to making 
sure we stayed connected.”
Young Israel of Oak 
Park and Bressler’s team 

were dominant during the 
season, finishing 7-1 and 
6-2, respectively, during the 
regular season and playoffs.
No other team had a better 
than .500 record.
Dovid Ben Nuchim-Aish 
Kodesh from Oak Park (3-4), 
Keter Torah Synagogue from 
West Bloomfield (2-5) and 
Young Israel of Southfield 
(1-6) were the other teams in 
the league.
Bressler was the league’s 
leading scorer with 124 
points during the regular 
season and his team’s two 
playoff games. Katz was No. 
2 on the league scoring list 
with 103 points, also in eight 
games.
Daniel Shamayev hoped 
to have an expanded league, 
called the Detroit Synagogue 
Basketball League, play this 
fall, but it didn’t happen 
because of COVID-19 
concerns caused by the Delta 
variant.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a 
spring season,” he said. “I 
have eight teams confirmed 
and there may be a few more 
from Temple Israel.
“I’d like to have two venues 
for league play next spring, 
one in West Bloomfield and 
one in Southfield.” 

Please send sports news to 

stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

It was a memorable inaugural season for 
the Detroit Shul Basketball League.

Friends, Power Outages and a 
Championship-Winning Layup

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

Daniel 
Shamayev 

Avi Katz

