Yavneh defeated Arlington Burton Adventist Academy 62-25 Tuesday night. The win kick-starts the Bulldogs record at 1-0.
In what is becoming an annual tradition of Burton Adventist working on passing drills to Yavneh players to open the season, the Bulldogs got off to a fast start in 2016-17 behind a 34-7 second half Tuesday. 78 Burton turnovers in the last two meetings between the schools is about as decisive a game-deciding stat that is needed in this series. Junior point guard Griffin Levine second-chanced his way into the first basket of the season for Yavneh to shake off a nervous start for both teams. He then found Senior tri-captain Noah Rubinstein on the run for a three point play to scurry out to a 5-1 lead. Zach Epstein scurried to the hope at lightning speed to extend the lead to 7-3 moments later. The fast breaking Bulldogs were scoring in transition but could not seem to keep Burton off the offensive glass. Yavneh maintained a 13-7 lead through one period of play thanks to 13 take-aways but allowed 4 offensive rebounds and were out-shot by the visitors.
The game tightened courtesy of a 8-2 Burton spurt fueled primarily by second chance points. With the score tied at 15-15, the Senior steal combo of Rubinstein and Liad Guttman changed the game with a 9-0 run that happened in a flash. Steal after steal led to easy offense for the home team as Junior Pierce Bell scored on a pair of buckets in transition and Sophomore Eli Minsky recorded his first career points on a tip follow shot-put jumper. Rubinstein and Guttman might as well have been wearing Burton apparel because they were targeted more times for pinpoint passes than anyone on the actual team roster with 8 of the 11 steals at the half. In all, 8 of the 9 Bulldog players scored in the first half led by Rubinstein and Freshman Jonah Eber. Eber connected on a triple and also rolled to the rim for a nice finish in his first career half of basketball. If your first name ended with an AH you had 5 first half points and the team benefited from 19 Burton turnovers in the opening half of play. The Yavneh led was a somewhat tenuous 10 points at 28-18 because of self inflicted wounds. The Bulldogs yielded 8 offensive rebounds, missed 5 free throws, and turned the ball over themselves 8 times to keep the game close. Also of note, Levine and post presence Daniel Chernikov saw limited first half action with 2 fouls apiece.
Griffin Levine returned to the court for the third period as a ticking time bomb that had gone off somewhere between the locker room and the court. From a tip follow to an AND-NONE to a trio of steals for points, Levine was literally everywhere. It was if he was the Roadrunner and
Burton had left all the coyotes back in Arlington. In a flash, the score grew to 41-20 on a 13-2 run that happened in an instant. If the first half was a bit turnover heavy for Burton, the third period became an all out hot potato affair for a team that was spent. Everyone got in on the steal action with more steals from Rubinstein, a pair from Bell, and then Junior Micah Romaner playing Chameleon free safety for a nifty interception at half-court. Pierce Bell’s angle layup pumped the margin up to 23 points late in the third quarter and the run-outs did not stop there. En route to 44 total giveaways, Burton had a blast watching Levine’s Act 4 production in total disbelief. Bell found Chernikov gliding through the air for the 59th and 60th Bulldog points but the game had long since been decided. Griffin Levine led all scorers with 20 points in a second half in which he dazzled the crowd. He also pulled in 7 rebounds and had 4 steals. Classmate Pierce Bell followed with 11 points and 5 steals. Noah Rubinstein was the steal leader with 6 and also notched 7 points. Every player scored at least 2 points and not so shockingly had at least one steal.
Yavneh (1-0) can expect tougher sledding in the games ahead but this was an encouraging start to what could be a special year for the Bulldogs. Look no further than 48 hours from now when Logan McClure and Coram Deo seek revenge for an exciting Yavneh 89-76 win a year ago in which McClure tallied 46 points in the loss. The rematch should be an interesting early season test for a Bulldog squad with the highest of hopes in terms of competing for a state championship and winning national tournaments. Will this team be able to keep the pace up and turn Coram Deo over on Thursday? Can they play more efficient and stay out of foul trouble? Will the early season signature win that would jump start a magical season be there for the taking?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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