Yavneh defeated Dallas Lutheran 57-29 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 19-2 (2-0). This was also the 16th consecutive victory for the team.
An early season tussle of Top Ten ranked teams in the TAPPS coaches poll turned into a glorified free throw shooting contest, the ugliest of basketball games, and of course another runaway rout for the Bulldogs Tuesday. In a game that featured a sea of Lutheran turnovers early (20 in the first half alone), Lutheran resorted to foul after foul on the defensive end for the majority of the game. Meanwhile, Yavneh was in the foul bonus just minutes into each half and needed the freebie hits on a night where they never really found a rhythm from the field. The night started with, predictably, two Pierce Bell free throws. Griffin Levine connected on an early three pointer but connections of that nature would be few and far between on this night. Both teams struggles on the offensive end made the game very choppy and Lutheran could not keep from turning the ball over at all. The first period saw 10 Bulldog free throw attempts with 8 of them finding safe harbor. Daniel Chernikov added quite possibly the move of his career, a side-stepping journey to the rim with extra-curricular flair on the finish at the rim. That electrified the crowd, including a raucous visitor section, and surged the Bulldogs to an early 11-5 advantage. A 13-9 first period featured horrific shooting from the field, 11 Lutheran turnovers, and 2/16 combined shooting for the two teams from distance. The second period took on more of a WWE type feel with Noah Rubinstein finding all parts of the floor with a variety of back flips, belly flops, and other moves known only to the insiders of the mixed martial arts community. The reality was that Lutheran jumped at every pump fake, every shot, and more setting world records for free throw attempts yielded per metric second. Rubinstein’s trio of free throws made it 11/14 to start from the line for the Bulldogs. The home team was a model of efficiency from the charity stripe and inefficiency from elsewhere. With just a pair of field goals made over 11 minutes into the contest, Yavneh caught virtual fire behind Levine’s pull-up jumper and second made trifecta on back to back offensive possessions. In fact, 7 consecutive Levine points doubled up Lutheran 26-13 as ever so slowly the Bulldogs were beginning to separate themselves. Jonah Eber’s coast to coast finish utilizing the left sideline for balance notched the Red and Black to a 15-point lead moments later. The free throw practice was suiting Yavneh just fine on the scoreboard and the first half ended with a Rubinstein to Bell semi-planned fumble connection for a baseline flip. The lead for the Bulldogs was 32-18 at halftime. A 22-3 free throw attempt advantage told half the story with 20 forced turnovers the remainder of the tale for Yavneh, who was well on their way to another victory.
The general concern as to how the Bulldogs might generate offense without the free throws continuing to support them was quickly dispelled as Lutheran hacked their way to 5 more quick whistles in less than 100 seconds to begin the third period. Levine found Micah Romaner slip-sliding through the paint for a great finish and a 37-21 lead. He then followed that assist with another to Bell and from there the free throw contest continued for both sides. With all the fouls and the lack of any flow in the basketball game, the game began to get extremely chippy. Eli Minsky got physical with an enormous box out netting him a pair of free throws and a Levine AND ONE from a Bell helper pushed the lead to a commanding 46-27 through three periods of play. 36 free throw attempts and only 10 made field goals added up to another simple W formula for the Bulldogs but just getting through the final 8 minutes was the biggest challenge of all. With every transition opportunity came a Lutheran body blow as the game continued to deteriorate. Zach Epstein’s wing three ball was the last legitimate play of this contest with Lutheran literally deciding to run off the last three minutes of a game they trailed by 28 points. Griffin Levine led the way with 17 points while Daniel Chernikov added 9 points and 6 rebounds. Pierce Bell chipped in 8 points while Noah Rubinstein grabbed 8 rebounds and a painful back bruise. Also of note, every active player for the Bulldogs made at least one free throw.
Yavneh (19-2) continues to roll despite all types of chaos in, around, and underneath them. Having yet to play even close to their best game in district play, the Bulldogs are flawless with a 2-0 record in District 3 and having defeated two teams ranked in the Top 10 of 3A as ranked by TAPPS coaches. With their biggest issue at the moment being health (7 players currently listed as probable), Yavneh will attempt to dispatch Lakehill on Thursday to continue on with a 17th consecutive feat.
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack CTDC M&M
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