HSAA defeated Yavneh 58-48 Thursday evening. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 12-6.
HSAA brought too much size and too much pressure defense for the Bulldogs to handle Thursday. Only once to this point had a Bulldog team been physically overmatched for an entire game and that was to a single St. Marks post presence. While this time an entire team out muscled a timid home squad, Yavneh will look back at this one and recognize that they had their opportunities to be right in the thick of things. Having the deer in the headlights look is nothing new for this Yavneh team in the opening group of possessions in a game. After once again rebounding from a lazy start by matching 4 HSAA points with 4 of their own, the Bulldogs had their first taste of the HSAA pressure defense. More than just straight turnovers, the deflections tired Yavneh’s players to a degree and it was almost painful to watch them struggle to advance the ball past halfcourt on multiple first half possessions. HSAA grabbed a 16-9 lead on pressure and a slew of offensive rebounds. The Bulldogs had only 5 first quarter turnovers but they were nearly all turned into easy points. 9 HSAA offensive rebounds made things even more difficult as Yavneh could not find the hoop (27% shooting) The majority of the second period provided little separation as both teams countered with their own forms of defensive pressure. Sophomore Jordan Prescott kept Yavneh in the game with 2 three pointers helping to compile 10 first half points to lead the team. A huge Josh Karnett charge take also gave the Bulldogs life but a 7-0 HSAA run to end the first half was deflating. Suddenly, the game-high lead of 12 points seemed like a bigger mountain to climb than the manageable game previously unfolding. 11 opponent offensive rebounds, 28% shooting, and 9 turnovers had been masked once again by the Bulldogs ability to get to the free throw line but as those freebies started to miss the HSAA advantage began to balloon. The second half began with an extension of the first half ending run. The lead for HSAA grew to 16 points as the second and third chances provided too much for the Bulldogs to multitask their way out of given the physical beating that was being imposed. Yavneh would absorb some type of contact on nearly every common shot but it clearly wore on the team, specifically the scoring tandem of Prescott and Elan Kogutt. It was excellent that they were getting to the free throw line (25 attempts) but 10 misses out of those left valuable points off the scoreboard. Kogutt’s buzzer beating layup to end the third quarter provided hope but there was no rhythm in the Yavneh offense and defensively there was no consistency. More evidence that Yavneh was worn out down the stretch was evidenced by two different players firing up air ball three pointers in the final period. With the lead having swelled to 53-33 in the game’s latter stages, however, the Bulldog pride came alive. HSAA let down for just a couple minutes, and Kogutt was right there to capitalize. A 13-2 Yavneh run sent more than just a faint scare into HSAA. It was almost as if the run served as a reminder that one more game between the teams was yet to be played in early February, and that the offensive mishaps and multiple opportunities would not be on the menu next time around. While there was not enough time for any theatrical comebacks on this night, it was nice to see the Bulldogs fight to the end yet again despite struggling for most of the game. The 10 missed free throws account for the final margin exactly which should surely give credence to the argument that the second matchup will be much different. Kogutt led all scorers with 29 points while Prescott chipped in 12 along with part of his lip playing hard-nosed defense, and HSAA provided 4 double-digit scorers on the flip side. Also of note, the normally finessant Kogutt fouled out for the first time since possibly third grade.
Yavneh (12-6) will play Lutheran High School Tuesday night.
The Kennel Report, now in its sixth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
LF 7-5