The Highlands School of Irving defeated Yavneh 59-52 Thursday evening in overtime to drop the Bulldogs record to 11-9.
An emotional week came to a close for the Bulldogs as they could not survive an extremely hostile environment Thursday evening in succumbing to the Highlands School in yet another overtime game, second straight and third on the season. The typical Yavneh formula of take the lead early, let it get away, fall behind, then storm back and make it a cardiac finish was in action again. From the beginning, the refs established that this was going to be a physical game. Yavneh led by as many as 5 in the opening quarter and 11-8 at the end of the stanza. Josh Abrams continued his excellent January shooting with a great second quarter but Yavneh gave up the lead at 27-26 when the first half ended. Yavneh was out-rebounded by 16-7 in the first half. With a major emphasis on getting Super Soph David Naxon involved on the inside to start the second half, Yavneh could not score the basketball. The Highlands jumped to a 40-30 lead towards the end of the third, pounding Naxon on the inside without the sound effects of any referees’ whistles. Extreme physical contact was allowed both ways the entire evening, and Naxon could never quite adjust to it. Highlands also turned the Bulldogs over, creating transition scoring to fuel their offense. Finally, in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Naxon was able to get to the line. He led a 13-4 run with three point plays to pull the Bulldogs to within 44-43 with 3:40 to go. Yavneh was finally able to catch Highlands at 48-47 on a Avraham Adhamy fast break layup with 1:10 to go. Having gotten back in the game forcing 18 turnovers from the unsure-handed Highlands guards, it was ironic that a Yavneh turnover ultimately turned the momentum back into Highlands favor. Running their end of the game stall play, involving three players, Sam Pulitzer allowed the ball to be taken from him in the final seconds with Yavneh holding a 1 point lead. Highlands forward Michael Schaad made 1/2 free throws to send the game into overtime after a last second foul underneath the basket. The foul was Pulitzer’s 5th and spelled the beginning of the end for an exhausted Yavneh squad, which clearly missed starter Erez Krengel. Unlike Tuesday, overtime was not the answer. Three key turnovers ignited 8 of 11 Highlands overtime points that allowed them to bury the Bulldogs 59-52. The Yavneh guards seemed almost too tired to get off a decent shot in the final seconds as they trailed by 3 possessions. David Naxon scored 22 points and Josh Abrams added 20, his third straight 20+ game. Lester Abey and Jacob Schaad each scored in double figures for the Highlands.
Yavneh (11-9) will play Coram Deo Tuesday night as they make their final preparations for the upcoming Houston tournament.