BVB heartbreaking losses spur change
by Sam Jacobson

After a strong start to a turbulent season, the boys’ varsity basketball team has lost four of five games since winter break, spurring a significant change in the starting lineup.

The season prior to winter break included highlights such as defeating the Hebrew Academy Cougars in the seniors’ final home game against their cross-town arch-rival and lowlights such as losing a close game to conference rivals Barrie Mustangs.

Heading into the break the team held a record of 6-2 and the Lions seemed in position to make a run at a possibly memorable season.

Since then, the Lions are 3-5 with close losses to conference teams such as the Washington International School Red Devils, Grace Brethren Eagles, Queen Anne Lions, another loss to the the Barrie Mustangs and the Field School.

Their wins came against the Edmund Burke Bengals, the St. Andrew’s Lions at the MCI center and the McLean Mustangs.

Head Coach Eyal Fierst attributed some of the losses to a new style of coaching. “There has been a change of personality within the program,” Fierst said.

According to senior center co-captain Jesse Bernstein-Ansaldi, the team has been distracted.

“We are in a slump. Winter break relaxed us and we are just not focused. If we keep practicing, things are going to change,” he said. “The close losses are just fuel to work harder. It shows we are not a bad team because they can go either way…it just makes us work harder.”

According to senior guard Nathaniel Levy, the Lions basically stopped being intense.

“A few games we came out not together. We started being flat, we stopped finishing plays or talking on defense. We stopped executing and communicating.,” he said.

During a recent practice, Fierst changed things up by taking out third-year varsity Bernstein-Ansaldi, senior guard David Fox and junior point guard Josh Akman out of the starting lineup. He replaced them with junior forward Jeremy Loya, Levy and sophomore guard Ezra Weisel.

Bernstein-Ansaldi was initially disappointed when he was informed that he would not start for at least a segment of his senior season but realized that he cares more about what is important to the team than individual glory.

“Coach wants intensity off the bench and I am more than happy to help out in any way possible.

It makes us work harder,” he said.

Fox shared similar sentiments to Bernstein-Ansaldi’s.

“[Fierst] is sending a message to the team, and I think that is good. If he thinks that having me come off the bench would help, I am completely fine with that,” Fox said.

In addition to a change in the starting lineup, the Lions’ practices have become more fundamental.

“Coach is running us a lot more and he is focusing more on fundamentals,” Fox said. “We are not really focusing on running plays or anything but more on stamina and just working hard.”

The effects of the modifications have been relatively noticeable. The first game with the changes in place was the second loss to the Barrie Mustangs.

The Lions started strong, jumping out to an early lead but slowed gradually, eventually losing by a slim margin of only three after some key missed free throws down the stretch.

One player who has seen a lot more minutes as a result of the change is Levy.

“We are starting to get our enthusiasm back. We had lost three in a row and we were tired of that,” he said. “Since the McLean game, we have started to get our energy back.