Estonia topped Israel 81-71 in the final game of the U18 FIBA Challenger Tournament but it wasn’t enough to deny the Blue & White the competition title with a 4-1 record. One of the top prospects Henri Veesaar (24p) showed exactly why he’s a coveted big man as he scored early and often for Estonia giving Israel all kinds of trouble inside with his length and height. Along with Gregor Kuuba (22p) and Aleksander Tassa (16p), Estonia was able to contain Israel despite getting another tremendous performance by Ron Zipper with 26 points going 4/9 from beyond the arc.

Zipper was awarded the MVP of the tournament averaging 25.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.

Yuval Levin who had an excellent tournament as well averaged 10.2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2.2 steals spoke to The Sports Rabbi following the competition, “I’m very happy especially since many people didn’t believe in us before the tournament. We always kept our heads up and we won these games to show ourselves what we could do but also for the country to see that we are worth something.”

“The tournament was tough and I didn’t show all that I’m able to do which is a bit disappointing but since we won as a team, I am very happy,” Levin continued. “Going forward on a personal level I want to improve for next season, but I am content with the tournament, my teammates, not so much in my own play but I will improve for the upcoming season.”

Levin also spoke about the tourney’s MVP Ron Zipper, “He had a great tournament. He’s a quiet guy and modest, but on the court he’s a killer and takes whatever he can. He gets his teammates involved and does everything on the court. I’m sure he’s going to go far in his career.”

The Maccabi Tel Aviv youth forward spoke about what areas of his game that he will be working on after playing in the as he looks to continue to develop after playing in the tournament, “I believe that having to deal with the size of some of the players here will be similar to what I will be playing against with a senior team. I will have to contend with strong bigs throughout my career and that is one of things that I will be working on after this tournament.”

As for goals going forward, the NBA is something that Levin would like to experience one day just like Deni Avdija, Omri Casspi and Yam Madar who is on the cusp of joining the Boston Celtics.

“That is my big goal,” Levin said. “I really want to be there just like they are. I know there is a lot of hard work ahead, but that is my dream. I hope that I will be able to accomplish that and I will do everything in my power to do so.”

Estonia came out with their guns blazing hitting five 3-pointers early on as Henri Veesaar and Aleksander Tassa each scored a pair while Gregor Kuuba found points at will to give the visitors the upper hand but Israel’s captain Nevo Sommerfeld, Avner Dror and Ron Zipper kept the hosts hanging around down 25-20 after ten minutes of action.

Veesaar went from deep twice to get the second quarter underway, Kuuba added one from long distance as well while Veesaar put home a dunk to bump Estonia’s lead up to 36-24 with 6:21 left in the half. Israel’s Ben Maman began to cut the lead but Veesar, Kuuba and Tassa kept finding the basket to take a 47-35 lead at halftime.

Estonia held serve to begin the third quarter as Kuuba and Karl Markus Poom scored for the visitors, but Zipper, Dror and Yuval Levin brought Israel all the way back from a double digit deficit to within just 3-points, 61-58 after thirty minutes of play.

Veesaar and Kuuba quickly bumped up the Estonia lead to 71-62 with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter as Zipper tried to keep Israel in the game. Taasa went from deep, Levin and Zipper countered with points but it wasn’t enough as Israel fell 79-69 in the game but win the tourney with a 4-1 record.