After a string of three wins, the Donna Klein Jewish Academy Eagles's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They took a 67-49 bruising from American Heritage. While losing is never fun, Donna Klein Jewish Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 511th, while American Heritage is ranked 47th).
Donna Klein Jewish Academy's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tal Kessous, who scored 21 points along with three steals. Kessous scored a full 42.9% of Donna Klein Jewish Academy's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Joshua Matheson , who scored 15 points along with seven assists.
American Heritage found their leader in underclassman Brendan Gerard, who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and seven steals. The match was Gerard's seventh in a row with at least ten points. Louis Corsa was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and 13 rebounds.
Donna Klein Jewish Academy has fallen quite a ways from their 12-5 record last season and are now at 3-5. As for American Heritage, they pushed their record up to 7-0 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Donna Klein Jewish Academy will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Greenacres Christian at 5:30 p.m. on January 4, 2024. Hopefully Greenacres Christian focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Wednesday. As for American Heritage, they will head out on the road to face off against Somerset Academy - Canyons at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Somerset Academy - Canyons will be coming into the match with an undefeated record on the line.
