Yavneh defeated Dallas Academy 45-27 Tuesday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 12-1. That is the best record to start a Yavneh season in school history.
Yavneh picked this Tuesday night, the last contest of the 2007 calendar year, as a trigger for a number of all-time firsts. Seniors Erez Krengel and David Naxon combined for 28 points in giving Yavneh a stress-free victory to complete its best start in school history. However, in its 10 previous seasons, the Bulldogs had never once failed to score a single point in any regulation quarter. Tonight, unbelievably, they went both the second and fourth periods without any points. In both quarters, a lineup of mostly reserves were protecting big leads. Yavneh came out with guns blazing as they built a 12-0 lead off of 8 Dallas Academy turnovers in the opening 3+ minutes. Yavneh torched DA 27-3 in the first quarter with the help of sizzling 73% shooting. Dallas Academy shot just 10%. The second quarter was the first exercise in futility as Yavneh watched Dallas Academy use the offensive boards as their friend in outscoring the Bulldogs 13-0. The lead was still 27-16 at halftime and a big third quarter would be needed to put the game out of reach again. Yavneh got just that , again pumping the lead up to 45-22 to end the quarter. Naxon and Krengel, along with help from guards William Zalstein and Brad Alhadef re-iced the game late in the quarter. Its a good thing because the Bulldogs were done scoring for the night, being outscored again in the final period 5-0. Krengel led all scorers with 17 points, while Naxon added 11.
Yavneh (12-1) is off until it plays The Phoenix School on January 3. While the Bulldogs have had a stellar first part of the season, it will be important for them to keep improving as a team leading up to March in New York City. In past years, January struggles have set the team back. This year, it will be an even tougher month if they cannot keep their momentum as the Bulldogs play Covenant and HSAA and travel to Keene’s Chisholm Trail as well as Arlington powerhouse Oakridge.
The Kennel Report is written by Zack Pollack