HSAA defeated Yavneh 57-43 Tuesday evening. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 14-11.
Three HSAA players combined for 51 of 57 total points en route to upending Yavneh in the first of the critical 4 final games of the season. Trey Tanella tallied 22, Grant Clothier dropped 15, and Jeff Brooks stumbled into 14 as HSAA thoroughly defeated a sluggish Bulldogs team that looked like it had seen better days. Yavneh’s recent problems yielded three trends that had to change to be successful Tuesday night: Senior Sam Pulitzer had to show up in the final three quarters, Junior Erez Krengel had to do the same in the opening quarter, and fellow Junior Bradley Alhadef had to play the final 90 seconds like he has been playing for the first 1830 seconds of games. Pulitzer scored 5 in the first and only 2 the rest of the game, Krengel never got into a scoring groove for any period of time, and the game was already decided when the final 90 seconds arrived. Yavneh showed signs of lifelessness from the very beginning. HSAA jumped to an early 5-2 lead and continued to front run after the first quarter at 15-12. HSAA controlled the boards 8-4, and Pulitzer’s 5 early points were upstaged by Tanella’s 8. The lone bright spot for the Bulldogs early on was Junior Michael San Soucie’s 4 assists in the first 9 minutes. Alhadef tied the game on a three pointer from the left wing halfway through the second quarter but those baskets were few and far between. For the game, Yavneh shot just 4-20 from three point range. Senior Charlie Saginaw delivered the lead for the Bulldogs at 19-17 shortly thereafter with a nifty inside move. However, an HSAA 10-4 run to close the half left Yavneh a halftime deficit of 27-23. Tanella netted 16 points in that first half by carving away at Yavneh’s interior defense. Normally a volume shooter, Erez Krengel managed just 3 field goal attempts in the opening half. Although the lead for HSAA was only 4 at the half, it felt much bigger and they would soon prove why. Yavneh cut the lead to start the second half on the strength of two strong Krengel drives in which he was fouled and made the baskets. The second drive provided a free throw that would have tied the game at 29 just two minutes into the third quarter. As the ball crept out of the cylinder, with it went Yavneh’s best chance to even the game for the rest of the night. What followed was an extended HSAA run that turned into an 11-point lead after three quarters at 45-34. Jeff Brooks, quiet in the previous game, came alive on the inside. Lay up after lay up behind the Bulldog defense combined with teammate Grant Clothier’s two dagger three pointers caused the double-digit lead. The combination of easy HSAA baskets and Yavneh offensive ineptness did not help any comeback effort on this night. The lead grew to as high as 55-41 late in the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs really never threatened in the final period. The 14 turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds Yavneh allowed did them no favors.
Rebounding will be important as the Bulldogs (14-11) try to break their latest slide against Chris Babb and Oakridge Thursday night. Babb is near the top of the DFW Private School Leaderboard in points, rebounds, and assists. Yavneh’s top glass eater Tuesday had 5 boards while HSAA sported two players with 10+ rebounds on their way to double-doubles. Krengel finished with a team-high 15 points.
The Kennel Report is written by Zack Pollack