Valley Torah (#16) upset Westchester (#1) 66-52 in the first round of the CIF State Division 4 Championship.
We are scheduled to play #8 ranked Chatsworth at Chatsworth High on Thursday at 7:00 PM. You need to purchase tickets in advance from the CIF.
Here is a wrap-up of the game from Coach Lior:
Last night, our Valley Torah Boys Basketball played in its third CIF State tournament in three years, but this year was different. Unlike past years, when they played teams from their own division, this year, the Wolfpack faced the Westchester Comets — a division 1 Los Angeles prep basketball public school powerhouse. Westchester has won six California State titles, twelve CIF championships, and has played for a city section championship nearly every other year in the past 35 years. Westchester has produced many NBA players including NBA champion Trevor Ariza, Bobby Brown, Gabe Pruitt, and Amir Johnson– who was drafted to the NBA directly from High School. Westchester has been the goliath of Los Angeles basketball, until Tuesday night when they played David. Westchester was given the top seed. Valley Torah, coming in with a record of 28-3, was given the bottom seed in the tournament. No 16 seed has not beaten a 1st seed, until Tuesday night.
Westchester started a lineup that included multiple players taller than 6’6″ and as tall as 6’9″, but that did not faze the Pack. Valley Torah controlled the game from tip to buzzer, scoring the first two point and not looking back. Half way through the second quarter, the Wolfpack held a 20-2 lead, and took the same 18 point lead into halftime. The comets roared back to get within four in the third quarter, but once again, David stood up to Goliath, as the Wolfpack built a lead of their own, a lead that Westchester was unable to overcome. With a dominating final score of 66-52, Valley Torah completed what was dubbed as the “upset of the year” and compared to the “Miracle on Ice” USA Hockey victory over the USSR in the 1980s olympics by local sports writers.
