North Central Texas Academy of Granbury defeated Yavneh 78-30 Thursday night. The loss evens the Bulldogs record at 1-1.
Many have hypothesized and pondered the fantasy matchup of a Yavneh basketball team playing Oak Hill Academy or a similar basketball factory. On Thursday night, while Carmelo Anthony did not make the trip into the SRC, this squad from a farm in Granbury, TX may have been the next best thing. Boasting multiple collegiate prospects, NCTA had the size, strength, athleticism, and game to humble a Bulldog team that simply does not lose basketball games on their home turf. Complicating matters, however, was the fact that Yavneh uncharacteristically gifted NCTA help they did not even remotely need in so many aspects of the game. 13 missed free throws, a host of unforced turnovers, and nearly as many missed box-outs put the Red-and-Black in precarious situations all evening long. The calling card passing game was completely shut down to the tune of a paltry 3 assists and the depth that makes this machine churn was limited to a grand total of 0 points off the bench. This was the wrong opponent to make this many mistakes early in the season with a reduced playbook because they had the weapons up and down the lineup to allow a downward spiral to become a hurricane. Senior Ofek Reef began this game like any other with a steal for a layup to push Yavneh to an early 2-0 lead. The teams exchanged pairs of turnovers apiece and likewise each burned an early timeout. The Bulldogs, though, continued to give away the ball after their timeout and yielded a crushing 16-2 run in short order. If NCTA had a weakness it was most definitely their overly aggressive defense, which caused them to foul almost as much as they breathed in any oxygen. Yavneh could have kept within striking distance at the free throw line if they were not so preoccupied misfiring from the charity stripe on nearly every chance. Reef connected on a jumper to cut the margin to 16-6 and Juniors Tyler Winton and Jonah Eber hooked up for the third perfect THREber trifecta of the young season moments later. Within 10 points again at 19-9, the Bulldogs seemed to have crept back into the game and electrified the crowd when Winton threaded the needle with a seeing-eye pass through about 21 feet of NCTA forest to Mason Schwaber for a finish with contact. That foul put the home team into the bonus late in the first period but like 5 other first quarter freebies, this one did not find a home in the basket. 19-11 was as close as the game would get as NCTA rattled off 4 points to end a 23-11 first stanza. While the Bulldogs were missing free throws, NCTA was shooting a blistering 71% from the field and out-rebounding Yavneh 11-5. The second period saw NCTA really put the clamps on as they responded to the Bulldog push with an 11-2 spurt to extend the lead to 17 points. Eber made a nice behind the back dribble mid-range connection and Schwaber had a strong tip-follow but the turnovers and more missed free throws made it impossible for the Bulldogs to make up any ground. Reef battled all night long but he drew massive amounts of attention and at times it seemed like there were 7 NCTA defenders all over him at once. 44-20 was the halftime deficit. Reef scored 9 points to lead the way in the first half but the Bulldogs were being outshot, out-rebounded, and had piled up unforced turnovers that they simply could not afford. The one area of encouragement was a 15-1 disparity in free throw attempts but even that yielded only a +4 on the scoreboard with all the misfires.
The second half started with a continuation of the first 16 minutes with a missed free throw and three more unforced turnovers. NCTA was starting to impose their will and the lead started to grow with every passing Bulldog mistake. A 16-6 extended run saw the lead swell to 34 points as Yavneh could not generate any offense. Winton soared coast to coast for a dashing finish and Reef bottomed a triple off a nice dribbling move but the normal passing game was missing in action. A 63-26 lead after three periods of play saw a familiar final chapter with little to no drama. This time, however, the script had been flipped and the Bulldogs were on the wrong end of the festivities. While Zander Feinstein attempted the Yavneh version of NCTA’s foul-a-thon with a pro-rated pace of a 32 personal foul game, the Bulldogs could not match what NCTA had on this night. Without the sea of missed free throws and unforced turnovers this is a much different game but without question this will be a contest to look back to later in the season as an incredible experience against a loaded basketball team. Ofek Reef led the team with 15 points while Jonah Eber added 8. Mason Schwaber also contributed 5 points to go along with 6 rebounds.
For Yavneh (1-1), this loss marked the end of an incredible, unimaginable, and almost surreal 29-game home winning streak dating back to November 19th of 2015. It would be easy to harp on one earliest of early non-district setbacks to a stellar basketball team but instead this is a night to celebrate almost 3 years of home dominance and prepare for what is to come for this team and its legacy. Before they can get back to defending the court that has been so grand to them, however, the Bulldogs will embark on an equally daunting voyage to 6A TAPPS Liberty Christian of Argyle. After being handled by several Liberty teams with a host of D-1 players to be including most recently Luke Kornet of the New York Knicks, Yavneh sent shock waves through the township of Argyle with an electrifying 68-67 overtime victory in 2013. Adam Schor’s put-back on that night sets up this revenge game in a place the Bulldogs have not won…..yet.
The Kennel Report, now in its 15th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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