Beth Tfiloh Basketball Teams Win Big at State Championships

February 28, 2023 JMORE Staff

We Are BT: Last Sunday afternoon, the Beth Tfiloh varsity boys' basketball team beat the Saints Peter and Paul Sabres to take home the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C Conference Championship title. (Photo provided by Beth Tfiloh)

Ah, a single sweet victory is truly a blissful happening, but twice is nice as well!

Recently, the boys’ varsity and junior varsity basketball teams at Pikesville’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School emerged victorious in their respective championships — a rare feat for any school.

Indeed, they lived up to their name of Warriors.

Last Sunday afternoon, Feb. 26, the BT varsity boys triumphed 65-58 over Saints Peter and Paul High School in Easton to take home the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C Conference Championship title at UMBC’s Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. This marked the first time that Beth Tfiloh won the title since the 1999-2000 season.

Junior guard Michael Cohen proved to be the star of the game, scoring 35 points, including the Warriors’ final dozen over the Sabres.

“We couldn’t stop his penetration,” Gary Gould, head coach of the Saints Peter and Paul team, told The (Easton) Star Democrat. “That was one of our main points of emphasis was stop [number] four from penetrating. But for some reason he was figuring out how to get in there, throw his body against a defender. He got some questionable calls early, but he kept the attack on. He kept the pressure on, so he did his job.”

Led by Head Coach Ari Braun, the BT varsity team finished with a 25-10 record for the season. The team’s assistant coaches were Julian Sless, Ted Sapperstein and Glenn Kaplan.

Meanwhile, the BT junior varsity boys team beat the Park School’s Bruins 60-50 last Thursday, Feb. 23, also winning the MIAA C Conference Championship title. The game was played at BT’s Hurwitz Hall.

This season, the JV boys enjoyed an impressive record of 12-1. The team was coached by Eli Creeger, Yossi Kuttler and Matt Lebowitz.

An understandably wild pep rally was held on Monday, Feb. 27, at Beth Tfiloh to celebrate the victories of its two Warrior teams and their accomplishments.

“The energy was unstoppable at today’s PEP RALLY celebrating not one, but TWO CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORIES for our Varsity and JV Boys Basketball teams!!!!” Beth Tfiloh posted on social media. “Mazal Tov to our incredible players, coaches and fans!”