Yavneh defeated North Hills 63-47 Tuesday evening in overtime to raise the Bulldogs record to 11-8.
The sun is about to set on the careers of Seniors Josh Abrams and Amitai Scott. Tuesday evening the duo made a huge statement that they are not going to go out quietly. It was all about timing on a night that the Super Soph, David Naxon, looked a step slow. At times the Bulldogs looked to be on top of their game while at other times they made the North Hills Panthers look like a cloned group of Kobe Bryants. In the end, 32 minutes was not long enough to settle the contest. Yavneh came out firing, starting the game with an 11-2 burst. Yavneh continued to hold a 20-14 lead midway through the second quarter behind hot three point shooting by Josh Abrams. The usual turnover problems for Yavneh yielded a 16-2 North Hills run that spanned the end of the first half and most of the third quarter. Yavneh still led by 4 at the break but the run eventually put North Hills in the lead at 24-22 and then 37-28 at the end of the third quarter. It seemed every one of Yavneh’s 22 turnovers resulted in a North Hills lay-up. Forced jump shots also contributed to the Bulldogs downfall. All seemed more than hopelessly lost at 39-28 with 6:30 to go in the game. Junior Sam Pulitzer kept the Bulldogs afloat with free throws and a foul line jump shot to bring the score to 39-32 with 5:31 left. At the point in the game when Yavneh normally caves in by taking forced jumpers, a struggling Amitai Scott found himself wide open from the left wing three point spot. One can only imagine what must have been going through his mind as he watched just his fifth three point shot in his last 40 attempts go through the net. Whatever it was, it lit a fire in Scott that would propel Yavneh to victory. Scott parlayed the three together with a drawn charge and a slick assist to David Naxon on the ensuing possession, and the lead was suddenly 39 37. Yavneh finally caught North Hills at 42-42 on a Naxon three point play in which David followed his own miss and withstood the contact. Pulitzer came up with a huge steal on an entry pass on the very next possession, giving Yavneh a chance to win in regulation. An Abrams missed lay-up sent the game into overtime. The seniors were not done. After Sam Pulitzer executed the best post move of his three year career to start overtime and put Yavneh ahead at 44-42, Abrams picked up right where Scott left off in regulation, a three from the corner and a tree throw, the Bulldog lead was 50-42. North Hills started to lose their poise at that point and the game got totally away from them. The Panther coaching staff was charged with three technical fouls in the final minute, and combined with a shooting foul, allowed Scott to drill 7/8 free throws on one possession. The offensive trip came close to equaling the point total of one particular possession where Itzy Ribald scored 8 points against Hyman Brand HA of Kansas. Abrams led the way with 23 points, assisted by David Naxon with his usual double double (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Amitai Scott/Sam Pulitzer with 10 points each. Also of note, Avraham Adhamy grabbed a career high 9 rebounds and had 3 key steals down the stretch to secure the victory. He was filling in for an injured Erez Krengel, who is out for at least a week.
Yavneh will play at the Highlands in Irving on Thursday.