Yavneh defeated Balch Springs 63-52 Thursday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 6-5.
Almost as if they were pulled from the airport terminals of winter vacation, Yavneh was ordered back to action Thursday in one last game for 2008 due to a scheduling mix up. In the process, the Bulldogs salvaged a winning record going into the break behind 27 points and 11 rebounds from Sophomore scorer Elan Kogutt. Helped by a season-high 10 additional players in the scoring column, Kogutt used a big second half run to carve up Balch Springs on a foggy December evening. Instead of the twin brother tandem that gave Yavneh fits in Balch Springs last spring, Kaleb Cloyd was had to depend on a new counterpart not nearly as effective early on. Cloyd did get out to a personal 5-0 lead over the Bulldogs before Yavneh chose to substitute in bulk sooner than ever before this season. A group led by the activity and energy from Freshman Jake Greif used a 9-0 run to take control of the game in the mid-first quarter. Greif tallied the first bunch of his 13 rebounds in seemingly bouncing around everywhere in that first period. The other player that was a difference maker in that first half was Senior William Zalstein, who got into the lane and created with four nice helpers to build a 32-24 halftime lead. In fact, in an amazing turn of events, Zalstein nailed four of his six made free throws for the entire season in a 90 second stretch early in the second period. The ease and accuracy with which he shot those freebies was possibly a preview into what could be the biggest free throw percentage turnaround of all-time coming in 2009. Both teams shot 40% in the opening half but Yavneh’s ability to protect the ball for a change loomed large versus Balch Springs’ 12 turnovers. Junior Josh Karnett took two very big first half charges. The Bulldogs made a large run in the third quarter to break the game open 50-31. Elan “Cotton Nails” Kogutt, as he is affectionately called by one of his assistant coaches, smoothly buried 14 second half points to sink Balch Springs. The game looked in-hand as Karnett threw a seeing-eye pass diagonally across the paint to Freshman Jordan Prescott for two of his 11 points. However, Cloyd got some help from late-arriving post Corey Asberry down the stretch to keep close contact with the Bulldogs. With the lead only 59-52 just 90 seconds from the game’s final buzzer, Senior Captain Miles Pulitzer found Freshman Kevin Sulski for a game-sealing lay-in. All things considered, it was a nice win for Yavneh to build some momentum going into the bulk of the season starting in January. The difference maker was clearly an uncharacteristic almost 2-1 rebounding margin for Yavneh. In Greif and Kogutt, the Bulldogs retrieved the same number of boards as the entire Balch Springs team on this night. Having two players (Zalstein/Prescott) with six assists each also paved the way for a successful game. It was amazing how much easier a game sets itself up in the second half when you control rebounding and turnovers (at least for most of the night).
Yavneh (6-5) will now really be off until January.
Many accolades to the Bulldog Print news editor and Kennel Report heir apparent?? Leigh Bonner for one heck of a job on her most recent high-profile article. EXCELLENT JOB!!! =D Keep up the great work!!
The Kennel Report, now in its fifth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M