The Lady Macs: Undefeated Since 1964

By Sarah Rivka Rochel V'Leah

t’s Thursday, and you know what that means: it’s GAME DAY!!! Tonight, the GMSG Lady Maccabees are playing Lausanne at their home court, and I can already smell our big win. I have recently been informed that it is Lausanne’s homecoming game, and I have to admit, I kind of feel bad that we are going to CRUSH them when their whole school is there expecting a win.

Our starting lineup is undeniably the top players in the country, ensuring us a victory by at least 73.2 points a game. Sarah Kahane has been practicing dunking, and with her exceptional height, every time she gets the ball we can all lay down and take a nap on the court because undoubtedly, that shot is always going in. Recently there’s even been a large debate amongst the players if we should go to the Hyman P. Galbut tournament in Miami because it is so unfair to the other teams. Every game would be won in mere seconds, is it worth it to shlep all the way down to the east coast to play teams we could destroy in our sleep? To put it simply, this season has been our best one yet. Now, I’m not going to lie to you. When last year’s seniors left, it was a great loss. Luckily our team is still the best in the league. I actually heard from a friend at Lausanne that the girls on the basketball team haven't eaten in a week scared to play us. I don't blame them, the wrath of Yonina Lichter on the court blows me away in practice too. Her perfect defense allows for every shot to be blocked with zero fouls acquired. And we for sure wouldn’t be able to dominate the season without our tank of a player Sarah, aka the Karf Machine. I have never witnessed anyone with the sheer talent and agility the Karf Machine has. Some would even label her as a child prodigy. The way she speeds down the lane is so fast,

I can’t even see her on the court. Not to mention, our new addition to the team, Atara Segal, has brought the confidence of a king and skills like she’s played for years. Margalit Goldkin is without a doubt the best at getting rid of the ball quickly, whether she chucks up a three pointer that she definitely makes, or throws the ball to another player, on our team, of course. Talya Mendelson leads our team in three pointers scored each game, in addition to her receiving the statewide award of most points averaged per game with her impeccable form and free throw shooting. Dahlia Siegel and Brooke Sanderson switching off as point guard really helps get the ball down the court quickly. Overall, this season has been really great.

If I had to pinpoint one specific factor, I would say that the main reason the Lady Macs are so great allows for steal after steal. Then, just as the final buzzer of the game goes off, I am startled awake and realize this had all been a dream. Turns out, the nal buzzer” was actually my alarm clock. This is not how the season has gone at all. To look at the bright side, if basketball was scored using a golf score chart, we would be undefeated this season. In fact, we’d probably be the best team in the country, for real. But no, this is basketball. Our team is lucky to score more than 10 points a game. the team. This has led us to an undefeated season! Now, the game is about to start and I can confidently say I have zero nervous bones in my body. I'm 100% sure we will win.

The game starts off strong, a quick pass to Talya Mendelson who drains a three from the half court line. A nice interception from Sarah Kahane who drives to the basket and completes a 360 turning dunk over Lausanne’s point guard. Brooke

Everything about the players in my dream had been completely wrong. I guess a good thing we can take out of this is that there was absolutely no debate about going to the tournament in Miami. Well, there actually was a debate, but not exactly for the same reasons as before. We did end up going though. We had the best time, despite the number of wins we had. Although most of my dream had been completely untrue, the amount of coaches we have had this season is completely accurate. Our team constantly waits in anticipation for who the next will be. So to re-sum up the facts, our basketball team may not be the perfect team I’d dreamed of, but it’s perfect in the eyes of each of our coaches. Yes, all six of them (RIP to our fallen soldiers). Even though our team isn’t undefeated like I had dreamed, it's perfect for me because at the end of the day, it's all about having fun. Right?!?!?!