Yavneh defeated Lucas Christian 56-41 Tuesday night on Senior Night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 17-10.
If this was truly a night to celebrate the achievements of outgoing Bulldog Seniors, then #23 picked one heck of a time to end his sabbatical from domination. Senior Elan Kogutt scored 20 points in his last regular season home game Tuesday, most directly aided by fellow superstar Jordan Prescott (8 assists), and Yavneh cruised to a much needed solid victory.
Kogutt was driven and seemed like a different player right from the get go. Flanked in the starting lineup by classmates Shimi Wolk and Zev Klein, EK quickly tallied the home team’s first seven points in succession. His energy was so infective that the younger kids wanted part of the action as well. Junior Jake Greif nearly dented the backboard as he parked a Lucas Christian shot up against it to go with another 2 early rejections. When Kevin Sulski beat the buzzer with a sweet drive to the hoop, who would have known that the Bulldogs would not only get the last possession of every period but also score in the final 3 seconds of each of the first three periods. Holding a slim 14-12 lead after the opening stanza, a breakout run was imminent. Pinpoint passing and a Prescott launch from deep in three point territory ignited a 12-2 run and a 20-6 second quarter to provide separation. The half ended on yet another last second thrill, this time a Prescott laser beam find to Senior Shimi Wolk who calmly finished at the rim. The only downer for Yavneh were the 9 first half turnovers against a passive at best defensive effort from Lucas Christian.
The lead reached 19 points in the third period before LC would challenge with their own major run. An 8-0 shocker left the game’s margin at just 11 points and had the visitors from Allen, Texas feeling good about their comeback chances. Prescott and Greif, however, combined for a back to back three point answer/charge taken to stretch out the lead again. With the clock winding down in the third period, it was almost expected that the Bulldogs would short circuit the buzzer again. This time Freshman Adam Karnett chimed in a corner triple that would have made his BYU mentor proud for a third straight last second Yavneh field goal. There would be no drama down the stretch except for the debut of Josh H Lynn’s newly patented Chin Fake that left Lucas Christian players re-lacing their ankle braces on multiple occasions. On the fifth such occurrence, Lynn scooted to the hoop for a 56-37 lead and the rout was officially on. Kogutt finished with the 20 points while Prescott and Karnett joined with double figures at 11 and 10 respectively. As a team the Bulldogs assisted on 21 of 24 made baskets led by the 8 from Prescott and 5 from Karnett.
The Seniors all made contributions in their final regular season home game. Zev Klein held true to form, inhaling an offensive rebound and a steal within seconds of making his re-appearance during the critical second quarter run. Shimi Wolk recorded the dagger bucket that changed the halftime lead from 14 to 16, and more importantly was the difference in the lead never being trimmed back to single digits. Elan Kogutt was in rhythm during nearly all of his 20 minutes and made the demoralizing steal for a layup to virtually take the will away from Lucas Christian when they were teetering on the brink. Yavneh (17-10) will now prepare for the Sarachek Tournament in New York City 36 days from now. A regimen of rigorous practices and warmup games versus State playoff teams look to help the Bulldogs capitalize on their strengths and eliminate those weaknesses that still exist (Did somebody mention turnovers and defensive rebounding??)
The Kennel Report, now in its seventh season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
MWJR? 3-26