Parish Episcopal School of Dallas defeated Yavneh 56 50 Tuesday evening to drop the Bulldogs record to 10-8.
Yavneh truly let one get away Tuesday night, after they had Parish Episcopal right where they wanted them on multiple occasions. Both teams played poorly enough to lose but the loss was awarded only to the Bulldogs as they folded again late in the fourth quarter. Yavneh led 13-10 after the first quarter, with Josh Abrams and David Naxon both leading the way with early three-point field goals. Yavneh used a 9-0 spurt to take command 24-15 with 4:56 to go before halftime. The teams traded runs before the half, with Yavneh’s lead being trimmed to 4, then built back up to 8, and finally completely lost. In the first half’s final minute, Kenney Hamilton took over for Parish. He scored 8 points from point-blank range and Parish held a 30-29 lead at the half. Hamilton scored 17 first half points in all. The teams played a defensive third quarter until a late Parish run, lead by Arturo Gandara, pushed the lead to 45-39 after three quarters. All seemed hopeless and lost until Josh Abrams came alive in the fourth quarter. With both starting guards having major turnover issues for most of the evening, Abrams was able to get to the rim and hit some outside shots to bring back the Bulldogs. A Sam Pulitzer foul line jumper and a Naxon to Abrams fast break connection gave Yavneh a 48-45 lead with 4:33 to go. It seemed Yavneh had them this time but on the ensuing trip down the floor, an elbow to the nose sent Abrams to the ground. In a scene straight out of one of the Rocky movies, Dr. Max Ribald worked desperately to patch up Abrams and stop the bleeding before it was too late. Freshman William Zalstein, having replaced Abrams on the floor, made an upper-class type decision when he pulled the ball out and reset things after receiving a deep pass against the press. That first possession without Abrams may have been saved but turnovers turned the game back in favor of Parish with the primary Yavneh ball handler still under medical care. Abrams returned with his team down 49-48 but they would not score another meaningful basket. David Naxon was denied on the few remaining possessions in which Yavneh did not cough up the ball. Abrams had his best offensive game of the season, finishing with 24 points. David Naxon had yet another routine double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Parish’s Kenney Hamilton and Arturo Gandara led the way with 25 and 17 points respectively.
The Bulldogs are off until early next week.