Yavneh defeated Lucas Christian 56-49 Thursday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 7-5.
The three week layoff definitely took its toll on the majority of Bulldogs fresh off winter vacation. All were rusty that is besides two Freshman who had career games to complement a slow night by Sophomore scoring sensation Elan Kogutt in disposing of Lucas Christian. Reid Cohen’s pyrotechnics was good for 11 big points while Jake Greif made five of his six shots for 10 points. Kogutt led all scorers with 27 in holding off a late fourth quarter rally. The game started off sluggishly for both teams. LC led 9-7 before Yavneh reeled off seven straight points to end the opening quarter. The activity of Senior William Zalstein and Freshman Cohen picked up towards the end of the period to spark the run. There was no indication at that point, however, of the inferno that was about to be released by the rookie guard. Cohen buried three triples in the second quarter to help build a 27-16 lead for Yavneh. Once Lucas keyed in on him, Reid made a veteran decision to assist classmate Greif for a nice foul line jumper. The 11 points, 4 assist half was clearly the best half for Cohen in his Yavneh career. Both teams committed double digit turnovers with Yavneh holding an 11 point lead at the half. Lucas was out-shot but grabbed 7 offensive rebounds to keep close enough for a second-half run. However, Junior captain Josh Karnett changed the game in the third quarter all by himself. He took two of his signature charges in a short time period during that third quarter. Possibly inspired by one of Yavneh’s all-time charge recipients being in attendance, Karnett could have taken four charges in three minutes but did not get the call on either of the final two. The fact of the matter was that the pace was too quick for Lucas Christian as the game wore on. With the end of the third period came a finish to “Chargegate“. Kogutt took over the game down the stretch as LC was so busy concentrating on other scoring options. A game well in hand got close late but was never in serious jeopardy.
Yavneh (7-5) will play Temple Christian next Thursday.
The Kennel Report, now in its fifth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M