MONTREAL — More than 100 alumni of Hebrew Academy, including many from out of town, came back to their old school to play in the 10th Oren Grunbaum-Barry Mishkin Memorial Tournament during Chol Hamoed.
This year’s champions of the Oren Grunbaum-Barry Mishkin Memorial Basketball Tournament pose with the trophy. From left are Shimon Berman, Josh Weigensberg, Dan Liberman, Aviad Grunbaum, Eli Tayar, Daniel Ludvig and, centre, Daniel Light.
The annual hoops match-up honours the memory of Grunbaum (class of 1993) and Mishkin (class of 1989) who were dedicated players in Hebrew Academy’s renowned basketball program.
Male graduates from 1984 to the present are eligible to take part in the tournament. Its popularity is so great that entry has to be limited to eight teams. Participants came from Israel, Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Baltimore and Los Angeles, among other places.
The champions this year was the class of 1998, which defeated the class of 2003 by 68-57 in the final game. Fittingly, Oren’s brother, Aviad Grunbaum, was on the winning team.
The classes of 2000 and 2005 reached the semifinals.
“It’s fantastic to be able to come from all over the world back to our roots at Hebrew Academy to compete against our old friends and reminisce about the good old days, especially when it’s in memory of two alumni who passed away at a very young age,” said Yoni Lehrer, tournament organizer for the past seven years.
The Oren Grunbaum-Barry Mishkin Memorial Trophy is housed in a case at Hebrew Academy and bears the engraved names of every player who has ever been on a championship team.
— Complied by CJN Staff
