After a tough start to the season, the Heschel boys varsity basketball team has stormed back with authority, positioning itself in the middle of a playoff race. 

Through the first five games of the season, the Heat won just one game, and the once optimistic team began to doubt themselves. However, they were not ready to quit. They understood that three of the four losses came against the top-ranked teams in the league, according to Yeshiva League Pass power rankings. 

With a packed gym cheering them on, Heschel broke their losing streak by defeating the Kushner Cobras 56-47 in the homecoming game. After a restful Thanksgiving weekend, they returned to the court in Baltimore in the Weiner tournament, winning six of seven games and finishing in second place. 

Now, having won seven of their last eight, the Heschel Heat were ready to face the Hillel Heat, a team that had narrowly defeated them earlier in the season. Late in the second quarter, Heschel found themselves trailing by 17 points, but the team was not ready to give up. Senior Jordan Cohen-Mintz scored 22 points, leading the Heschel Heat to a 50-45 comeback victory. 

After the game, senior Nati Eshaghoff said, “We could not have done it without the fans. We need you guys to keep bringing the energy for us. We would have lost without the fans.”

After a big win against YDE and some hard fought losses to MTA, SAR, and North Shore, the Heat find themselves just one game behind Frisch for the final playoff spot with two games to play.

As the Heat push for a second consecutive playoff appearance, they’ll need fans to keep matching the players’ effort to reach their goal.