Keene’s Chisholm Trail Academy defeated Yavneh 57-54 Thursday evening. The loss, Yavneh’s third in a row after winning eight straight, drops the Bulldogs record to 13-9.
For the second straight game, Yavneh battled a bigger and more athletic team to the final minutes only to suffer defeat. An inspiring team effort went for naught as the Bulldogs were out-executed once again late in the game. The loss wasted big time contributions from so many players on this night, and leaves the Bulldogs at a crossroads as they enter the final weeks of the season. Yavneh could ill afford to fall behind for the second straight game, and came out firing bullets. An Erez Krengel three point missile on the game’s first possession jump-started an 11-0 start for the Bulldogs. In the most efficient offensive quarter of the season for Yavneh, they got everything they wanted each time possessing the ball. Chisholm Trail could not make a shot, and even worse got only one shot per possession. Uncharacteristic of this year’s Bulldogs unit, they controlled the glass in the opening quarter. Junior Jordan The finally woke up towards the end of the quarter, however, and CTA reeled off a late 10-2 run to close the margin. Leading the early scoring for Yavneh was Senior post Sam Pulitzer, who could not be stopped in the first quarter. In that opening 8 minutes, Pulitzer was as dominating as any Bulldog post player since Akiva Wolk. His 5/7, 10 point performance in the first off five Bradley Alhadef assists staked Yavneh to a 19-15 lead. Unfortunately, the second quarter was not nearly as fortuitous for Yavneh. Still holding a 29-26 lead at the half, the Bulldogs were poised by Pulitzer’s 12 points, Krengel’s 9 points, and 7 big Charlie Saginaw rebounds. In addition to the rebounding stability that the Bulldogs were showing, a meager 6 turnovers showed value to the basketball. CTA’s halftime adjustment was a “Box & 1” defense to try and contain Krengel, who was starting to catch fire. The Yavneh offense was suddenly stymied and needed an answer with the game tied at 33-33 halfway through the third quarter. The Bulldogs needed offense and turned to the Michael San Soucie/Aviv Schor show. San Soucie tossed three assists on Schor mid-range jumpers in between willing himself to the free throw line for 4 big makes. The quarter belonged to San Soucie and Schor, keeping Yavneh right in the game down by just 1 point heading to the fourth quarter at 45-44. However, for a third straight game the early quarter run came back to bite Yavneh one more time in the final period. Chisholm Trail’s 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter knocked a pesky Bulldog group down a couple of levels. The run lasted the entire first 4 minutes of the period and left Yavneh in desperation mode. They had an answer: Alhadef nailed a runner along with a Krengel steal/lay up combo followed by a pair of free throws. Yavneh needed one more stop as Saginaw, in the midst of a monster game on the boards, was fouled rebounding the missed CTA shot. Saginaw hit the two free throws to tie the game at 52-52 with 1:36 left. Dustin Duncan responded with the biggest 2 points of his game-high 17 to give Chisholm the lead with under a minute to play. The Bulldogs squandered two opportunities on the subsequent possessions with Krengel missing on a three for the lead and Saginaw being unable to repeat his successes at the free throw line. CTA hit their free throws down the stretch, and despite Saginaw’s tip-in with 2 tenths of a second remaining, Yavneh fell 3 points short in a hard fought battle. Pulitzer had a great game, scoring 16 points on 8/14 shooting but seldom found his opportunities after the big first quarter. Krengel finished with 13 and Schor 11 on 5/6 sharpshooting to pace the Bulldogs. Saginaw recorded his first double-digit rebounding game with 10 and Alhadef dished out a season-high 7 assists. Dustin Duncan and Jordan The both recorded double-digits for Chisholm Trail.
Yavneh (13-9) has another tough week ahead starting with THESA on Tuesday night. If the sometimes quiet Seniors continue to shine as they did Thursday, Yavneh could still have their best basketball in them in the final games similar to last season. The more help Krengel and Pulitzer continue to receive, the most dangerous this Bulldog team continues to be.