Yavneh defeated THESA 56-27 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 21-8.
Yavneh used another third period onslaught to dismantle a THESA team that could not buy a basket all night long. In the best defensive showing of the season, the Bulldogs forced THESA into 40 missed shots out of their 49 attempts. The game, however, did not start as glamorous as it ended. THESA jumped out 6-1 as it was Yavneh who could not hit the side of a barn during the opening stanza. In fact, the Bulldogs connected on just a single field goal during the first period on nine attempts. Combined with five turnovers it was quite fortunate for the deficit to be only 9-5. The home squad got and missed point blank shots at the basket as well as free throws. Budding Sophomore Post Itai Guttman finally connected on two freebies minutes into the second period after being SHAQTAI on his first three errant attempts. The Bulldogs finally cracked the surface with a 7-0 burst over a three minute stretch early in the second period. Senior Captain Jake Greif dished classmate Kevin Sulski, which triggered a pair of Jordan Prescott steals for another four points. THESA was busy folding under heavy full-court pressure. The run was capped with a nice transition feed from David Rudomin to Sulski. Yavneh notched a 22-16 halftime lead, primarily from the free throw line. Each team was 5/20 from the field, making two straight games in which both teams shot exactly the same % for the first half. 12 free points from the foul stripe was the true difference in the game to that point. All the missed opportunities should have come back to haunt the Bulldogs but then the third quarter happened.
The third period has been good for Yavneh of late but Tuesday was the best one yet. Once again the run was kick-started by Greif. His slow motion three point play turned into a five point play with his free throw miss/pass that set up a Sulski to Prescott corner three ball. Suddenly the lead started to swell possession by possession. The 14-3 outburst featured a different highlight with every trip. Adam Karnett’s acrobatic three point play was followed by a trifecta of Prescott assists. He found Sulski slicing to the hoop, then Karnett underneath, and finally Guttman in the post. Another 10-2 run ended the period with Prescott finding a suddenly dominant Guttman down low on multiple occasions. He was truly an assist machine for the third period on this night. The 24-5 period was topped off with a Karnett weak-side reverse tip follow of a Prescott miss. The game was suddenly a laugher and a easy breather for the final eight minutes. Lost in all the stat stuffing hoopla was the 20 offensive rebounds THESA swallowed up. They truly tested the theory that 20 extra possessions are sure to bring more points. The sad truth for them was simply that none of the extra possessions produced many points either. Prescott, meanwhile, led all scorers with 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds and the six assists. Guttman followed with 13 points headlined by a stellar third quarter performance. Karnett played his most efficient offensive game of the season with 10 points. Greif was an absolute monster on the boards and in the trenched collecting 12 traffic rebounds. Sulski missed only a single field goal in recording his 7 points as well to round out the scoring.
Yavneh (21-8) will take some major momentum on both sides of the ball into their two week layoff. Next up will be a rematch with HSAA South, who were Bulldog victims by a wide margin just weeks ago.
The Kennel Report, now in its eighth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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