Yavneh defeated Rocky Mountain High of Denver 47-38 this evening in the final of the first ever Yavneh Tip-Off tournament.
Yavneh went a long way toward putting the tournament demons of past years deep in the janitors closet with a semi convincing tournament final win over a scrappy and determined rising team from Denver, Colorado. Yavneh went to their new weapon, David Naxon, early and often. Naxon’s mid-range jumper was working all night to the tune of 10-17 shooting. The game was decided, however, from the free throw stripe. Naxon made a good living there Saturday night, drilling 13/16 free throws. In fact, as a team, Yavneh outshot RMH 22-5 from the free throw line. These numbers couldn’t help but bring back memories of another Saturday night home game against a certain team from Kansas that featured similar domination from the charity stripe. Yavneh controlled the game throughout, riding their rising sophmore. They lead by between 6 and 12 seemingly the entire game. With less than a minute remaining and Yavneh clinging to a 6 point lead, Erez Krengel and Sam Pulitzer went to the floor in a loose ball scrum only to signal for a timeout. To the surprise of many, Coach Baruch smiled and acknowledged the heads-up play. Also of note, Josh Abrams held Denver stud Matt Rotbart to 5 points on just 2-14 shooting. Rotbart had 30+ points in the semifinal.
Yavneh (2-0) has a home date with Cambridge (formerly Logos) on Tuesday evening.