Yavneh defeated The Cambridge School of Dallas 83-48 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to a still flawless 3-0.
Cambridge strutted into the SRC Tuesday boasting a 100-27 point differential in steamrolling through two games on the young season. The 2015-16 TAPPS 2A state champions, however, left just short of 90 minutes later as victims of the third consecutive 30+ point Yavneh victory in as many games. The Bulldogs jumped the Lions right off the opening tap, forcing an early timeout before more than three dribbles had been taken in the basketball game. Junior transfer Ofek Reef scored on two consecutive posessions to begin the game, fending off a defender for a fading jumper and then finishing in transition off a steal/assist by Sophmore Jonah Eber. Griffin Levine Sr, who followed up just the second 20+ point/10+ assist game in school history with a sparkling 29 point effort, weaved through traffic for the driving layup that made the score 6-0 not 120 seconds in. Pierce Bell continued his hot shooting with a couple early field goals of his own and a third straight game in which he has taken a charge. The Big Three were all clicking in a 23-5 first period. Levine fed Reef for an alley-oop AND ONE and then continued his streak of beating the first period horn with a triple. Yavneh forced 13 turnovers in the opening stanza and it looked for all the world that this game was as runaway as it gets. However, the tide began to turn in a polar opposite second quarter. After Levine took a charge, the Bulldogs became careless with the basketball and their once reliable passing game became Turnover Depot. Sam Schultz was active and deflected a basketball to Reef and then Levine to stem the tide but Cambridge engineered a nice run to crawl back to within 15 points. The Red-and-Black had difficulty rebounding the basketball at times and gave up several second chance buckets to skilled post Brannon Farrow. The visitors had two shots to get even closer and were gaining momentum when Micah Romaner rebounded his own shot attempt and managed to shotput the basketball over outstretched arms and to the wing. With nearly all banks closed in the US and Canada, Tyler Winton found the one that was still in service with an off-balance trifecta that careened off the square and in for a 36-18 advantage. Even with the second period struggles, the Bulldogs maintained a 40-20 halftime lead. The teams combined for a chilly 3/19 from the land of the three but Yavneh enjoyed another gargantuan turnover differential as well as a +9 in free throw attempts. Reef and Levine combined for 29 of the 40 points scored in an offensive transition first half clinic.
The third period got off to a rocky start for Yavneh as they yielded the initial 4 points and the lead once again was down to just 8 baskets at 40-24. An immediate 6-0 response, though, seized back the momentum for the Bulldogs in a big way. Levine’s steal became Reef’s finish before Bell signed the run with a loud red permanent marker. His one-legged fadeaway jumper re-established a 20 point margin and moments later a nice Romaner feed allowed Bell to dissect the Cambridge zone defense for a 46-24 lead. Eber also put his stamp on this game defining spurt with a defensive sequence for the ages. Nearly forcing a 10-second violation, Eber was on the floor, in the stands, on the bench, and seemingly flying over top the stadium all at once as Cambridge started to realize that this game was long over with. Marlei Burrowes connected on a pair of three pointers in 30 seconds but even that only trimmed the Bulldog lead to 23 points and a 58-33 score after three periods of play made for a third straight game where the final chapter was a mere formality for Yavneh. On this night, however, an action packed 8 minutes with the game no longer in doubt was anything but a formality. Levine began the period with his easiest layup of the year as Cambridge was so disoriented that they forgot which basket the teams were shooting at. He then found Zach Bernstein for a three ball that was just beginning the Junior guard’s legendary quarter. Three consecutive Bernstein steals had the crowd wondering if they were simply watching a DVR. The explosion of 4 steals, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a three pointer was just a glimpse into the stardom and athleticism that Bernstein can bring to the table. Senior Seth Gerstenfeld recorded the first points of his career with a soft finish off glass courtesy of a Mason Schwaber helper. Schwaber showed off his adept passing game with three assists, two of them to Eli Minsky. Minsky put on a show during a 5-minute stretch in the fourth quarter that netted 11 points all at the rim. Had Minsky played 32 minutes his pro-rated scoring total would have been well over 60 points for the game, a potential record setting feat. As it was, though, The Red Rocket played his best basketball of the early season of course around 3 quick fouls. Griffin Levine just missed a 30-point game with the 29 points and cashed in on 7/8 free throws. Ofek Reef added 19 points to go along with his 7 rebounds and Pierce Bell chipped in 11 points of his own. Eli Minsky’s 11 points on 5/6 shooting with 6 rebounds rounded out the double-digit scoring. Also of note, Tyler Winton’s 3 offensive rebounds kept critical posessions alive early in this game to lead the second chance attack for the Bulldogs.
Yavneh (3-0) continues to roll through opponents but faces a stiff home test in just 48 hours. The Canterbury School from Desoto joined the Bulldogs at the state tournament last season for their 1A division and returns star Senior Seth Jeffrey among others from that team. This figures to be an up-tempo battle once again as Yavneh slipped by Canterbury early last season by 13 points.
The Kennel Report, now in its 14th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M TL-BW-SP-BR