Orthodox Jewish basketball team loses Texas championship after Sabbath rescheduling

Orthodox Jewish school loses championship game after Sabbath rescheduling

Beren Academy's basketball team, which fought successfully to reschedule its state semifinal so it would not conflict with the Sabbath, saw its dream season come to an end Saturday, losing the title game 46-42 to Abilene Christian in Fort Worth, Texas.

When the final buzzer sounded Saturday night for the boys basketball team from Beren Academy in Houston, it signaled the end of a quixotic quest by bunch of Orthodox Jewish students who drew national attention more for the durability of their faith than their crossover dribbling.

And while the team finished on the losing end against Abilene Christian, 46-42, the lessons of their experience were far from lost. Coach Chris Cole told FoxNews.com on Monday that the increased attention did not get into the heads of his players, who "fought like crazy," he said.

"I never saw any signs of distraction to the point where it was disrupting our routine," Cole said. "I felt [the media attention] was just silly in a lot of ways. We just wanted to play basketball."

The team's semifinal game, in which the Beren Stars defeated Dallas Covenant 58-46, was originally set for Friday night, but players for the Orthodox Jewish team say their faith prohibits them from playing between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday.

The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) had initially rejected the school's request to reschedule, but several parents filed a lawsuit seeking to force TAPPS to move the game. The league ultimately changed the game to Friday afternoon.

"We played against a fantastic team; it was tough," Cole said. "We felt like we deserved to be there and we were proud to be there. We wanted to win a state championship."

Cole said he hopes the team, which will lose four starters to graduation, can learn from this year's post-season experience.

"We have been through the fire so to speak, and there is some talent here, so there's the possibility of us trying to make another run," he said. "But obviously the kids understand what's possible now, so hopefully that will turn into some more hard work."

Despite the loss, Beren Academy head Rabbi Harry Sinoff reportedly felt the season was a "success," he told the Houston Chronicle.

"We got to compete in a basketball game, but the whole experience for the school was really remarkable," he told the newspaper. "It brought the community together … Sometimes you don't have an event like this to do that. We're not pioneers. We just thought it was right for us to play. It was good for basketball."