Liberty Christian Argyle defeated Yavneh 58-42 Tuesday night. The loss starts the Bulldogs season at 0-1.
Slow and steady might win some races but Liberty Christian used lightning quick guard Wes Hill’s masterpiece to carve up the Yavneh defense during a decisive third quarter run Tuesday. Hill alone would have been tough to deal with but a consistent recipe of poor shot selection and gift turnovers by the Bulldogs further ignited LC’s offense to the point of no return.
After giving up two consecutive baskets to begin the game, Yavneh’s first points of the season came on Sophomore Itai Guttman’s flip shot in the lane. Those points would be scarce in the opening stanza as the Bulldogs hoisted up ill-advised shot after ill-advised shot. LC only outshot Yavneh by 3% from the field but 7 turnovers and several long rebounds jump started the road team’s offense. The dangerous scoring tandem of Senior Captain Jordan Prescott and Sophomore Adam Karnett were held to just two points in a 13-4 first period. Having trouble finding the basket for most of the first period, Prescott resorted to a trick shot from behind the basket at the onset of the second quarter. While that predictably was not the answer, moments later Karnett turned a take-away into a deep pass to get Prescott going with an easy run out. He followed with the season’s first triple and suddenly a tip in follow with contact by Senior Captain Jake Greif cut a double digit lead to six points at 17-11. All night long the Bulldogs put together mini runs only to be countered by easy opportunities for LC at the basket, mostly caused by errors, quick shots, and even offensive rebounds. The halftime deficit was just 26-16 thanks to a nice sequence by Sophomore David Rudomin playing in his first career Varsity minutes. His big rebound and finish off a laser pass from Karnett in the final seconds of the first half left the Bulldogs within striking distance at home. All indications were that a comeback was in the cards. Prescott was not going to shoot 3-11 from the field again, the team was not going to make just a single three pointer in another entire half of basketball, and most importantly Yavneh was surely going to eliminate the mental mistakes.
Not only did the mental mistakes continue but Liberty picked the third quarter to unveil a mismatch that buried the Bulldogs. Guard Wes Hill spent most of the second half creating open opportunities for teammates with his quickness and ability to break down the defense. He drove to the basket, threw some lobs to the rim, and even went coast to coast on a few occasions. While Hill was sensational, the Bulldogs continued to shoot quick shots resulting in long rebounds, commit lethal open court turnovers, and fail to get the majority of the 50/50 loose balls. LC used a 14-4 run over six minutes to break the game open at 40-20. Down 23 points as the final period began, Yavneh would not give up despite the game situation. A 9-2 Bulldog run over the first 4 minutes culminated in another Prescott three pointer and a Karnett three point play at the rim. The lead was trimmed to as few as 15 points at 48-33 when Senior Kevin Sulski saw his own triple bounce off the backboard and in from the top of the key. In fact, the lead was cut to 15 on three straight occasions; but the road team countered with an all too easy lay-in each time.
The combination of early season rust, poor decision making, and a highly skilled athlete that could not be contained proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome on this night. From despair, however, comes hope. It is abundantly clear that this Yavneh team is really, really deep. 9 players played at least a full quarter of the basketball game. Despite about as off a night as he has ever had, Prescott still managed to lead all scorers with 20 points. Karnett chipped in with 8 points as well but those two will need to improve on their 12/42 shooting. Yavneh (0-1) will have no time to think about what could have been a better opening effort. They welcome Dallas International School Wednesday night with a chance to right the ship. The two schools have never played a Varsity basketball game.
The Kennel Report, now in its eighth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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