Allderdice junior is golden in Maccabiah Games
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Moments after Jackson Blaufeld delivered a goldmedal performance at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel last week, he found his mother, Rachel, celebrating at Romema Arena.
“I ran up and hugged her,” said Blaufeld, a junior at Allderdice High School. “It was crazy. We were jumping around, enjoying the moment. It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life.”
Blaufeld scored a teamhigh 21 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Maccabi USA under-18 basketball team to a 92-80 comeback victory against host Israel in the championship game of an event known as the “Jewish Olympics.”
The gold-medal ceremony, according to this 6foot-2 sharpshooting guard, was surreal.
“To stand on that podium and be honored with my teammates ... it was a lot to take in,” said Blaufeld, who averaged a team-best 18.8 points in helping Maccabi USA to a 5-0 record. “I’m just honored that I was given a chance to compete at such a great event.”
The Maccabiah Games feature nearly 10,000 athletes from 85 countries competing in 45 sports. It is the thirdlargest sporting event in the world, behind the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.
Like the Olympics, the Games are held every four years and offer pomp and circumstance. The opening ceremony in Jerusalem drew 35,000 spectators, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blaufeld beat out nearly 100 Jewish-American players to earn one of 12 roster spots. And despite being the youngest member of the team at 16, he performed like a seasoned veteran throughout the tournament.
He opened with eight points in a 94-55 win against Canada; 11 versus Australia, 118-35; 30 against Mexico, 121-26; 24 versus Argentina, 83-55; and 21 in the goldmedal victory against Israel.
Asked to explain why the scores were so lopsided — Maccabi USA won by an average of 51 points, including that 95-point win against Mexico — Blaufeld said depth was the difference.
“We had talent up and down our roster — and we had guys who will be playing Division I basketball,” said Blaufeld, who’s drawing interest from Ivy and Patriot League schools. “Now, I can tell you that not everybody liked that we were winning so big. Things got physical. A guy on the Mexican team fouled me and was thrown out of the game. Because we were playing with a 24-second shot clock, we were going up and down the court and putting up points.”
Nobody did it better than Blaufeld, especially in the gold-medal game. With Maccabi USA down 10 late in the third quarter, he hit a 3pointer and a jumper to slice the deficit to five. Then, in the fourth, Cornell recruit Bryan Knapp made it a point to feed Blaufeldcontinuously.
The latter responded with those 11 points, including two 3-pointers down the stretch.
“Bryan had a lot of trust in me throughout the tournament,” said Blaufeld, who came on late last season for Allderdice, scoring 18 and 20 points in PIAA Class 6A playoff games against North Hills and Pine-Richland. “The key was, none of us wanted to leave there without a gold medal.”
Allderdice coach Buddy Valinsky cited Blaufeld’s relentless pursuit of perfection for his success in Israel.
“He’s a true gym rat; he plays all the time,” Valinsky said of Blaufeld, who helped the Dragons to their fourth consecutive City League title last season. “He’s always working on his weaknesses, trying to get better. He’s a good shooter, and the dribbling passing have always been there for him. He’s really a throwback to the old days. He’s simply a basketball player.”
In the wake of the tournament, the Israeli coaches tried to recruit Blaufeld to join them for the European championships in August. Blaufeld considered it, but his AAU team, the Pittsburgh Rytes, play in Las Vegas at that time.
“I was honored that they asked me,” Blaufeld said. “I feel proud, too, because they must have liked how I played. I just wanted to represent Pittsburgh and the country the best that I possibly could.”