Yavneh defeated Balch Springs Christian 54-39 Tuesday evening to improve the Bulldogs record to 9-6.
Sometimes they just don’t fall. In one of Yavneh’s worst three point shooting performances of all time, the Bulldogs escaped with a comfortable victory due to effective first half pressure and a Balch Springs team that did not show up until the second half. Running game…slow game…any game is hard to win when you shoot 2/29 from behind the three point arc. They were able to win despite a lethal combination for the second straight night: out-rebounded 44-31, let one opposing player grab 22 rebounds on his own, turn the ball over 13 times, miss 5 free throws, and again the three point shooting. Yavneh came out of the gate strong with a first quarter that featured 13 Balch Springs turnovers. They had no answer for Yavneh’s pressure but separation on the scoreboard was a slow process. Yavneh struggled shooting right from the beginning, and despite allowing only 6 first quarter field goal attempts, led only 17-8 after that opening stanza. Both teams applied early pressure but Balch Springs had neither the depth nor the patience to deal with the constant lineup shuffling and intensity that Yavneh exhibited. Balch Springs featured only four scorers the entire evening, three of which were brothers. Kris, Klinton, and Kaleb Cloyd were essentially the entire team, effective only for brief periods in which they were patient and persistent in the second half. At times, Kaleb would show you his quickness off the dribble, Kris would demonstrate a Lebron James-like punishing spin move to the basket, and Klinton would hammer out his 12 points and 22 rebounds (9 offensive). But there were far too many mistakes to keep them in the basketball game against attacking defensive pressure for much of the night. The Bulldogs opened up a 23-8 lead a minute into the second quarter and really never looked back. They truly struggled shooting the basketball overall the entire game but got balanced scoring from some unlikely candidates. Butch Shawel led first half scoring with 7 points, and 8/10 free throws buoyed the lead as well. Balch Springs did not help themselves, making just 3/10 of their first half free throws. Junior Erez Krengel struggled with his wrist ligament injury all night long, shooting 2-14 overall and 0-10 from three point range. “Ice” was uncharacteristically ice cold on this night. Yavneh held a comfortable 29-13 halftime lead. The Crusaders played better in the second half, able to find Yavneh’s recurring weakness on the glass. The lead was just 14 points at 33-19 before Yavneh put the game away with a pressurized 13-2 run. A 48-25 lead after three quarters was trimmed only to 15 in the final period with consistent second chance scoring from Klinton Cloyd. Sam Pulitzer made Yavneh’s second and final three point field goal with 3:30 to play, pushing the lead back to 20 and allowing the Bulldogs to coast to the finish. Pulitzer scored a team-high 12 points and added 8 rebounds. Shawel finished with 9 points, providing much needed offense on a night that it was truly needed. Junior Bradley Alhadef had a great all-around game with only 3 points but 5 assists, 5 steals, and a big blocked shot. Senior Charlie Saginaw won the battle in the trenches once again with 8 strong rebounds.
Yavneh (9-6) will play at Dallas Academy Thursday night to close out the first half of the season. The Bulldogs are a perfect 8-0 against Dallas Academy but have played some tough games at DA. The lopsided rivalry dates back to the days of Roland Turner and Michael Sirleaf vs. Itzy Ribald and Gavi Wolk. Yavneh will have to shoot better to compete in an extremely tough gym to play in.
The Kennel Report is written by Zack Pollack