Yavneh defeated Arlington Burton Adventist Academy 78-32 Tuesday night. The win kick-starts the Bulldogs record at 1-0.
This just in: Yavneh Academy still has a Boys Varsity basketball team. Senior Ofek Reef wasted no time in collecting his first double-double of the year, Juniors Jonah Eber and Mason Schwaber each scored in double-figures, and the Bulldogs forced 26 turnovers in dismantling Burton by a score eerily close to a year ago (76-42). Burton came out blazing with two different leads in the opening moments of the game but Senior Captain Zach Bernstein assisted Schwaber for a jump hook finish and then scored in transition to even the score. A gorgeous slip pass from Schwaber to Eber for the season’s first AND-NONE finish of the year also yielded the first Yavneh advantage on the scoreboard. The nervousness of a crowd searching haplessly in the stands for airline tickets to shuttle Griffin Levine back to High School seemed to dissipate as Reef lasered a pass to Tyler C Winton in the corner for the triple that extended the lead to 9-4. The Bulldogs were officially off and rolling….again. In fact, a 15-0 spurt turned the brief deficit into a laugher almost instantly. Schwaber’s steal found Eber and then Reef at the basket, Eber pilfered an inbounds pass for a bucket, and yet another steal from the 6”6 sensation fueled a Winton to Eber finish in transition for 6 points in less than 15 seconds of game action. Eber nearly threw the first alley-oop of the young season but even so Reef was credited two points for his near slam efforts. Bernstein finished lefty style on the run off a nice Reef pass for a 22-6 lead en route to a 26-10 edge after one period of play. After a year abroad, there was an early second period appearance of the alter ego known as Jonah THREE-ber. A wing three ball that grazed nothing but pure string off a setup from Bernstein stretched the lead to 29-10 and probably busted both the scouting report and undefeated season of dreams for Burton in 2018-19. Winton from the left and Reef from the right in transition poured two more baskets onto the lead and Eber stepped back to NBA-range for his second perfect trifecta in as many tries for a 37-10 margin. While Winton is known to most within the industry as simply McBuckets, his passing was on display at the SRC on this night with a great dish to heavily recruited and touted Simcha Malina for a rolling finish from straight away. Winton also added another three ball and created a pair of Reef baskets simply by torpedoing basketballs off the rim and into the hands of the All-World Senior. Reef, on one occasion, actually played catch with himself at the rim while collecting 4 rebounds all at once off his own passes. Malina’s adventures at the free throw line were a show within the game and included in just the single price of admission. None of his first three free throws touched the rim but the hard-nosed offense he was producing represented the grit, determination, toughness, and opportunity that this rising Junior seems to bring to the table. Freshman Ben Rael posted a pair of first half assists, including a mid-range Schwaber AND-ONE, as well as two free throws in his long-awaited debut. Sophomore Zander Feinstein acrobatically swiped a steal on the sideline from Angel Castillo, who decided to continuing running without the ball for a good 5 seconds before he realized that Feinstein had possession of the basketball. It all added up to a 57-17 first 16 minutes of action for Yavneh in the most impressive fashion. With only three turnovers and two offensive rebounds allowed, the Bulldogs had prevailed in every facet of the game and ended this game almost before it started. Ofek Reef did a night’s work in the first half alone with 14 points, 12 rebounds. Eber and Schwaber added 14 and 10 points respectively as the entire starting unit and beyond clicked on all cylinders.
With the game no longer competitive, the Bulldogs were able to cycle through their incredibly deep roster and got something from every one of the 11 available players. The early part of the second half belonged to Schwaber who made another basket, picked up two more steals, and an assist. Eber also was extremely active with three steals of his own to go along with all his offense in a clear breakout game to begin the season. Sophomore Tom Oster collected two rebounds in traffic and had a great assist in his rookie appearance as well. Reef darted a pass to Malina that beat the third period buzzer and mercifully moved this game towards the finish line. A somewhat predictably lackluster final period was highlighted by Malina’s hard work in the paint while doing his best Ofek Reef impersonation with multiple rebounds of his own shots. Feinstein attacked the rack with ease in floating a finish off the window for the final two points of the evening and classmate Elisha Klein showed off his athleticism with the lunging deflection of the night and a final exclamation point. Also of note, Nik Krasovitsky scored his first career point in the closing minutes of the contest. Ofek Reef led all scorers with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Jonah Eber added his career-best 17 points on 7/11 shooting with 7 assists/6 steals. Mason Schwaber only missed two shots in posting his 12 points with 5 rebounds and 4 steals as well. Tyler Winton and Simcha Malina each chipped in 8 points. Malina also pulled down 8 points while Zach Bernstein scored 6 points in a solid first half that set the tone.
Yavneh (1-0) was impressive in their opener but faces the toughest of two-game stretches that a team can have this early in the season. While points once again seems to be no issue for a Bulldog team that brings scorer after scorer into the game, it will be interesting to see how this team stacks up the next week as they are challenged at both ends of the court. Of immediate concern will be in less than 48 hours when defending TAPPS 1A State Champion North Central Texas Academy of Granbury invades the SRC. Yavneh’s last home loss was just shy of TWO calendar years ago but they will have to be solid to defeat this extremely talented basketball team. Will this team continue to be much more than just Solo-FEK, keep sharing the ball, and winning with the multi-dimensional attack on display Tuesday? Can the depth and the pace of this team prevail against a team that has enjoyed equal success to Yavneh over the last number of years? Could this next week be an early defining moment to springboard the 2018-19 team and begin the legacy that so many experts think this team will rise up to?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!
The Kennel Report, now beginning its 15th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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