Yavneh defeated Irving The Highlands 89-37 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 17-3 (2-0).
While the depth of the 2019-20 Yavneh basketball team has been on full display for quite some time, there has always been a working hypothesis that if the “Fifth” starter brought true star power to this starting lineup it could take this group to never before seen heights. THAT DAY HAS APPARENTLY ARRIVED Almost irrelevantly coinciding with his 16th birthday, Ben Rael exploded for one of the best single quarters in school history en route to a career-high 30 point/8 rebound masterpiece Thursday. Rael nearly could have won this game by himself but the depth of this squad just keeps coming at opponents and turns basketball games into 32-minute nightmares. Despite a victory margin through two games of over 90 points combined, somehow the Bulldogs have managed to trail at the outset of both contests. Behind once again early by a basket, it was apparent Rael was locked in right away with three offensive rebounds in the first minute of play. All that hard work eventually paid off in a game-evening layup and from there it was full speed ahead for the Sophomore. Tyler C Winton, suddenly transformed into a passing and defensive specialist for 2020, notched the first and second of his 7 glorious assists to Rael for three pointers. These shots were leaving Rael’s fingertips and majestically dancing through the air with no destination other than into the basket. Jonah Eber found Rael in transition for his 10th point and a 10-4 lead. In fact, outside of Jason Prager’s setup for a Mason Schwaber AND-ONE finish, 13 of the first 16 points went to Rael. Eber added a basket off the inbounds and the assist for Triple #4 by Rael and a 21-9 lead. The crowd seemed almost disappointed when Schwaber called Prager’s number for a great finish but was back on the train not long after as this legendary first period continued with a Rael put-back. Winton’s nifty steal and full-court assist to Eber punched the score up to 25-9 as Highlands frenetic pace was doing more for Yavneh than themselves all-night long. 3D became 3BD in a hurry as Rael finished the opening stanza with 18 points on 7/9 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds. The Blazers actually outshot Yavneh 54-52% but got off 12 less shot attempts, turned the ball over 7 times, and were having trouble getting back to the defensive side of the court with high frequency. It seems almost unfair when the Bulldogs begin to roll out additional players that have the appearance of having been in a cryogenics lab but the parade began with Hillel Baynash and a corner trifecta within seconds. That Noah Ohayon assist was followed up by a Schwaber to Avery Levy connection at the rim for the first 20 point lead of the game at 34-14. An 8-2 Highlands run was their moment for this night and was accomplished in the Blazer way of volume three pointers and high energy pressure. While this was a glimpse into how dangerous this group from Irving can be when they are making shots, it was the Bulldogs who had the outside range measured on this evening. Elisha Klein and Jason Prager (2) thrice responded with baskets worth triple the point value while assisting each other on all occasions for a devastating 9-point response in a flash. In total, that was 8 made three balls at a 50% clip against THE team that must have the three point advantage to win. Winton continued his quarterback mini-camp with another long helper to Rael and a Prager steal/assist to Eber completed an extended 23-4 spurt for Yavneh to completely wipe out the brief mini-run from Highlands. Steals and assists were flying during the latter stages of the first half. Nik Krasovitsky pilfered one basketball and finished high into the night sky and Ben continued to be absolutely UN-Rael. The 57-26 halftime edge was an offensive display, triggered by long rebounds for transition to go along with 15 forced turnovers. Eight triples, a 40-23 shot differential, and 24 points from Ben Rael on 9/11 shooting all capped a first half to remember.
Mason Schwaber scored twice off more great Winton passing and gave a couple points back working on his modeling career. Jonah Eber pick-pocketed Highlands twice in a row on the same steal and dazzling lefty finish for four more points and a 66-29 lead. Reece Parker assisted on a Treynash hit as well but the trifecta that brought the birds chirping in the third period was the one that produced the 70th point of the night. McBuckets put the “buckets” back in play for 2020 as Winton drilled a corner three pointer courtesy of a dart from Tom Oster for the return of TW3. Oster would slice through a trio of defenders in the lane and to the rack for a finish that netted a 40-point lead before the period expired. Parker also took a key charge to fuel a second-half defensive gem with a mere 11 Highlands points allowed. Simcha Malina continued his fourth quarter efficiency with a perfect shooting night and a great finishing move to go with that. Levy assisted Rael for his final field goal of the night, intuitively realizing that the Sophomore was now fully licensed to drive the lane. The good fortune continued with a Krasovitsky free throw off glass fueling his perfect night at the foul line as well as two perfect charity shots for Rael for points 29 and 30 to cap a complete victory. He finished this game with those 30 points, 8 rebounds, and even 2 blocks. Mason Schwaber added 14 points while Jonah Eber pitched in 10 points and 4 assists. Jason Prager assisted 5 times while both he and Elisha Klein notched 8 points apiece. Tyler Winton led the way with a game-high 7 assists and 4 steals to go along with 2 blocked shots as well. On the darker side, the Bulldogs received player technical fouls in back-to-back games for the first time ever but neither were of a traditional variety and The Bad Boys mantra is extremely unlikely to continue its flight.
Yavneh (17-3) have looked fantastic through a pair of district games, flaunting depth of magnanimous proportions and an energy unable to be matched by opponents in District 2 to this point. The emergence of Ben Rael as a superstar maybe a half-year before it had to happen provides a punch to this starting lineup that makes the bench even more lethal. As this team continues to grow and thrive, it will be a challenge for opponents to account for so many options and directions production is coming from. The next test awaits Monday with a long journey to rival Covenant.
The Kennel Report, now in its 16th season, is written by…
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