Coaches Leo Schoffer (top left) and Alan Greenman (top right) with team members Ben Zvi Alfer, Michael Greenman, Michael Schugar, Max Grossman, Don Daniels, Ben Theiberger, Nate Segal and Brent Sloteroff. The Maccabi Atlantic City under 16 boys’ basketball team took home the silver medal in the National Maccabi Games held in Richmond, Va., for the week ending August 6. The team, sponsored by the Katz JCC of Margate, won an incredible six straight games in its march towards the gold, including a thrilling 67-65 win over Brooklyn, N.Y., in the semi-finals. The locals had been down by as many as 14 points and excited the capacity crowd with an improbable comeback that culminated with point guard Michael Greenman’s 15-foot runner with a mere five seconds left in the game.

Greenman led the team with a game high 24 points as teammate Brent Slotoroff added 23 points and 10 boards while playing a great all-around game. Nate Segal added four 3-points as he chipped in 13 points.

In the gold medal game, AC took an early lead in another exciting contest that remained close until the fourth quarter when the locals succumbed to the bigger size of Suffolk, N.Y., by a score of 62-49. In the contest, Greenman and Slotoroff each scored 22 points to pace AC.

The team opened up the tourney against an extremely tough team from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and after trailing by as many as 16 points, the team rallied behind 28 points from Greenman to edge-out a 62-58 win that set the precedence for this historic run by the locals.

In its next contest, the team faced a JCC squad from the south shore of Long Island, N.Y., which resulted in a 65-54 victory. Slotoroff led the team with 23 points and garnered support from teammates Nate Segal and Max Grossman, who chipped in with 17 and 9 points respectively. Grossman also had a huge game off the boards and dominated the paint. AC then upped their record to 3-0 by thumping the host team from Richmond, Va., 81-41. Don Daniel was instant offense off the bench, icing 4 straight 3-pointers as Maccabi veteran Mike Schugar and Brent Slotoroff each scored 16.

The local JCC had great team chemistry and really enjoyed each other’s company under the stewardship of coaches Alan Greenman and Leo Schoffer. Schoffer and Greenman upped their career Maccabi Game record to 40-7, already planning moves for next summer’s Maccabi Israel. Also on the team was defensive specialist Ben Thieberger and Ben Zvi Alfer, who participated with the locals all the way from Arad, Israel. Alfer was the jokester and the favorite amongst his teammates and really cherished the experience with his American cohorts.

Coach Alan Greenman called this team, “the best group of kids he ever coached.”