March 9, 2012
Holy hoops: The story of the Beren Academy basketball team
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Beren coach Chris Cole instructing his players during a timeout at the championship game on March 3. Photo by Samantha Steinberg
For one week, the boys basketball team of the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, Texas, made nationwide headlines.
The reason—they made the Texas 2A semifinals, but since the academy is Orthodox Jewish, they couldn’t play the game, which was scheduled on the Jewish Sabbath.
After a campaign and filed lawsuit, the games were moved to accommodate Beren, and their performance attracted the media, as well as the Texas Jewish community.
JTA’s Uri Fintzy spent the final four weekend with the Beren staff, students and fans.
This is the story.
