Yavneh defeated Irving The Highlands 83-68 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 15-5 (2-0).
83 was once again a prime number in prime time Tuesday night as Yavneh matched their offensive output perfectly in their second district game, got the first career Triple-Double from Jonah Eber to complement another pair of Double-Doubles from teammates Ofek Reef and Mason Schwaber, and overcame a horrific defensive rebounding/free throw effort Tuesday. Make no mistake, this was a high energy, up and down, throw all cares to the wind contest from buzzer to buzzer in the most electrifying city in America (Irving, Texas). Jonah Eber, who would have his best career passing game before the night was over, found Mason Schwaber for the first of his nine field goals to get the scoring started. He would also assist on an Ofek Reef triple moments later, and Tyler C Winton’s slip pass to Freshman Ben Rael surged the Bulldogs to a 7-4 advantage. Reef sent the capacity crowd into a frenzy with a tip follow nearly from beyond the ceiling as if he was on imaginary stilts but Highlands also was lighting up the scoreboard early in this game. Yavneh found little separation as they began to allow multiple shot attempts on second chance opportunities in a sloppy defensive rebounding effort that was only just beginning. The game began to swing back and forth with Reef and Schwaber dominant inside the painted area but little to no defense was being played at the opposite end. The Bulldogs held a slim 15-14 edge after one period of play, being outshot from the field in the opening stanza for the second straight district game. Each team had five turnovers, a significant shift from the dominance of the giveaway differential from a night earlier. The second period began with the spurt Yavneh needed so desperately on the road with an encore Reef tip-follow AND-ONE, this one from closer to sea level, and another Eber helper to Winton for a timely trifecta and a 21-14 lead. The energy for the road team was in full force during the second period, needing every bit of it to counteract the complete absence of any type of rebounding and consistent defensive effort. Reef out-muscled the entire Blazer constituency for yet another AND-ONE finish, combined with Schwaber for back to back steals with the help of more Eber assist magic, and Winton hosted his own neighborhood block party to build a double-digit lead at long last. Reece Parker’s baseline jumper and a Reef coast to coast finish paved the way to a 40+ point first half for the Red-and-Black. While it took no more than 3 seconds of game action for Sophomore Tom Oster to grab a clutch rebound in traffic and subsequently torpedo a free throw off the window, the rest of the Bulldogs struggled in those areas significantly during a 43-32 first half. The lead was indeed double-digits despite surrendering 15 offensive rebounds, connecting on just 5/12 free throws, and only securing a turnover differential of +1 at 11-10. Reef’s 22 points led the way but Blazers star point guard Blake Everett was every bit as good for the home team, keeping pace on the scoreboard with his team trailing by just 11 points.
Eber quickly stretched the advantage with two more assists to Schwaber and to Rael at the outset of the third period. The Bulldogs were performing at an offensive level that should have allowed them to run and hide but the Highlands offensive rebounds only ramped up in the second half. Eight more second chances in the first 4 minutes plus of the second half had the grand total up to 23 in a heartbeat but the Bulldogs simply had too much size for the Blazers to contain at the other end. Schwaber, who battled himself for a good part of the evening, put together a big stretch down the stretch beginning with four points in a row. Reef, who had a quiet second half by his own standards, followed the Schwaber point blank mini-run with a strong put-back. Eber found Winton again for three and Schwaber’s nice paint dish to a slicing Eber strengthened the lead to 60-43. Mc Buckets has come back from his world tour with a hot shooting touch, once again connecting on multiple treys but also with high assist and hustle numbers. He and Reef crashed the floor for a nice steal/assist to Senior Nachi Zucker for a layup and then Winton dished another pinpoint pass to Noah Ohayon for the on-the-run finish that pushed the lead to 20+ points at 65-45 through three quarters. This would be no runaway as Highlands battled with their best offensive period to finish the game, mostly behind their tenacious efforts on the offensive glass and the heroics of Everett, who would end up with 32 points to lead all scorers. A 13-6 run for the Blazers behind a three-point barrage would trim the lead to as little as 71-58 but the passing efforts of Eber and the Reef/Schwaber duo in the paint would prevent any further advances on this night. Schwaber went the volume route, scoring the team’s 71st point on his 23rd shot from the field but many of the makes came late in this contest to demoralize a spirited Blazers squad looking to hold serve at home. Simcha Malina did his best Highlands impersonation with a slick two-handed rebound and finish during the deciding sequence when the Blazers were on the cusp of putting actual game pressure on Yavneh. Eber spectacularly completed the second Bulldogs Triple-Double of the season on a dramatic whirling dervish finish through the lane for his 9th and 10th points with mere seconds of his playing night remaining. Not to be overshadowed, Mr 4th Quarter Reece Parker finished a transition feed from Zander Feinstein with the foul late in this contest to keep pace with three others for the national lead in fourth period efficiency. In the end, 26 offensive rebounds allowed, nine free throws missed, under 50% shooting from the field (46%), and really no advantage in the turnover category still netted the Bulldogs a somewhat comfortable 15-point victory. That will happen when three players have nights with surnames. Jonah Eber’s 10 point, 11 assist, 10 rebound Triple-Double, Ofek Reef’s 28 point/14 rebound Double-Double, and Mason Schwaber’s 18 point/10 rebound Double-Double were a lethal combination for the Blazers to deal with. Tyler Winton’s 10 points and 7 assists followed those efforts to provide a ton of firepower for a starting lineup dealing with the absence of Zachary Bernstein (back) for a second straight game. Ben Rael and Tom Oster combined for 9 rebounds, which were much needed gold in this game.
Yavneh (15-5) won the first of their five-game road trip but will need a much better effort defensively and on the boards to continue winning away from the SRC. The offensive attack has been brilliant through two games totaling easy math of 166 points and that will only seem more lethal as their defensive sea-legs return. Awaiting to start the toughest week of the season, a three-game multi-city sequence that will have the Bulldogs racking up the frequent flyer miles, will be Covenant next Monday evening. Can this team rise to the occasion in hostile environments and put themselves in a position of strength in District 2? Can this squad return to normalcy on the defensive rebound front? Will the offensive performances of this group keep rising to uncharted waters?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 15th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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