Castleberry High School defeated Yavneh 91-85 in overtime Tuesday evening. The loss closes the Bulldogs season with a record of 17-13.
You just cannot script this stuff. A Yavneh all-time classic game inside an all-time Yavneh virtual house of horrors needed overtime to be decided. With storylines including the final stanza of a 4-year poem for 5 wonderful Seniors, a career-high scoring night for the Bulldogs’ scoring sensation, and oh by the way an overtime thriller to boot. While the NBA’s three point shootout took place Saturday night 15 minutes up the road in Arlington, Fort Worth’s Castleberry High School had their own Tuesday night. With two early triples seemingly before the Bulldogs ever got off the bus, this one looked like a sure runaway. But Sophomore Jordan Prescott answered with a rainmaker of his own and suddenly Yavneh settled in offensively. It has been said that Elan Kogutt never met a baseline that he didn’t like but on this night it was the baseline’s buddy To The Basket that earned him a nice looking crooked number. While CHS was burying three balls, Kogutt was tearing up the inside early and often. Two three point plays with the foul kept the score close and a shootout in the first period of 23-21 was the end result. Yavneh was scoring at 61% shooting and CHS had drained five long bombs for the better part of their points. The first adjustment would be big and a 1-3-1 zone defense seemed to slow and confuse the Bulldogs in the second quarter. A 9-2 run put Castleberry in control as they continued to score and Yavneh stagnated on the perimeter. Offensive rebounds (11 first half) were a big time problem for the Bulldogs during that run and, above all else, they just could not guard the three point line. Alex Gonzalez threw in 13 first half points in the opening half and he was just getting started. The Bulldogs actually outshot CHS in the first half but still needed a buzzer beating three pointer from Senior Captain Miles Pulitzer to be down only 10 points at the break. Kogutt quickly added to his 17 points in the first half with two quick baseline jumpers to cut the lead nearly in half. Moments later, Prescott buried a three pointer Yavneh style and the run was on. Eerily similar to the early third quarter run last night, the Bulldogs used a combination of Prescott, Pulitzer, and Sophomore Reid Cohen to pressure a tired opponent and knife into a lead. The mountain had nearly been climbed when out of nowhere appeared charge taking specialist Senior Josh Karnett. The kid saved his best half of offensive basketball for last, starting with a rhythm three ball to cut the lead to a single basket at 48-45. Despite a repeat performance moments later, Castleberry gulped the lead right back to 11 in the blink of an eye. In fact, Karnett’s two triples were all that broke up a 13-0 run for CHS. The single possession game was back to an 8 point spread to end the third period. Yavneh needed more from Karnett and he delivered. One more three pointer and then finally a transition finish for Karnett to tie the game 63-63 off of what else…fellow Senior Miles Pulitzer’s blocked shot. The outburst awakened Kogutt once again as he answered nearly every Gonzalez three pointer down the stretch. When Cohen found Prescott on a beautiful back cut for a 69-66 lead and Kogutt collected a traffic rebound amidst a sea of ravenous offenders, the Bulldogs were less than a minute away from escaping. But, alas, all classic games have peaks and valleys. The Yavneh valley was their historic kryptonite, the free throw. 5 of the 11 misses from the charity stripe came extremely late, and left the door open for Gonzalez to be a hero on his own Senior Night. He calmly drained a 35 footer to tie the game at 71-71 with just 3.2 seconds showing on the clock. The momentum that had been gained, specifically by Gonzalez, overflowed to the overtime period. The Bulldogs answered all the threes but more evident in overtime was the problem of trading 2 for 3 nearly every subsequent trip. Behind for the entire 4 minute extra session, Kogutt answered on several occasions but it was Pulitzer who turned classmate Joe Lerer’s rebound into a full court layup to get within a single point at 83-82. Three misses sealed the Bulldogs’ fate: a missed tackle of Kogutt at the rim, 2 more missed free throws, and then 3 times where a CHS runout missed all the defenders down-court. Nearly every player on both teams was fully spent from 4 emotional, fast-paced quarters plus a 34 point overtime. Gonzalez was special, scoring 34 points on 8 three point makes. Kogutt was every bit as good with a career-best 40 points. Meanwhile, Prescott’s 18 points with 7 assists gave the 1-2 punch a sizzling finish to 2009-2010. Seniors Pulitzer and Karnett went out with a bang: Pulitzer a nice 9 point, 7 assist show and Karnett with 11 of both the game and his career’s biggest points. A Bulldog block party saw Sophomores Jake Greif and Jordan Prescott combine for 8 blocked shots.
Yavneh (17-13) saw highs and lows in a season that was necessary for the maturation of a developing team. The group of 5 outgoing Seniors were not the most athletic players to don a Yavneh jersey but all played a role essential to this team being in position to make a run at Sarachek next season. Micah Steinbrecher could never be seen without the smile and positive attitude that could not help but to rub off on the rest of the team. Joe Lerer modeled strong man to man defense and rebounding position like few that have ever come through the program. Josh Karnett was a walking charge-taking video (a school record 60 to his credit). If the younger players didn’t learn from that or his final game heroics, there truly is no hope for the future. Ethan Prescott was truly an extra coach on the bench. His knowledge of the game helped both players and coaches alike to win both this year and beyond. Miles Pulitzer was truly invaluable—as a court leader, as a team captain, and as a representative of Yavneh Academy. Never before has a team captain been so emotionally in control of an entire Yavneh team, and the development in his game grew by leaps and bounds. This group has set the stage for the Bulldogs to shine next season. Elan Kogutt will take his career game into the summer and look to make that a scoring average. Jordan Prescott will try to step it up as well to make that combination any defense’s nightmare. A pair of Junior posts, one that has been removed from the program since his Freshman season, could play key roles in supporting the current Sophomore class. Jake Greif and Ben Romaner need to get stronger, bigger, and meaner to be the inside combination that this school has been waiting for to compete nationally. Reid Cohen and Kevin Sulski look to be the burners that will not only be the answer for the guard position next season but also in molding the future. A slew of incoming Freshman and Junior Varsity talent are sure to play some kind of a role as well. Is Elan Kogutt ready to absolutely be a Tier 1 scoring machine? Is Jordan Prescott ready to be the player that makes it impossible to game plan for the Bulldogs? Can the beasts develop an intimidation factor that will strike fear in opposing big mens’ hearts? Will the role players step into the fray and become x-factors? Most importantly, will the perils of poor free throw shooting, lack of defensive rebounding, and turnovers be ultimately eliminated from this team’s repertoire? Can Yavneh Academy finally win Sarachek in New York City next March????
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its sixth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
LF 7-7
TB