Yavneh defeated The Covenant School of Dallas 47-46 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 18-9 (6-6).
The most important bounce of the season for Yavneh saw the first of three Steve Levine free throws somehow find a home in the basket with .7 seconds left to secure a dramatic district victory Monday. In a game that featured 9+ point leads for both teams and 3 lead changes in the final minute, the Bulldogs got a game they absolutely had to have. The teams were more than familiar with each other in the second meeting within 4 days and the game was close early. Daniel Chernikov connected on a mid-range jumper and Steve Levine got an early steal for a layup to start the game. Covenant led 7-4 when Griffin Levine slid into the lane and dished a nifty pass to Noah Rubinstein. Continuing to lead 9-6, Covenant was in control or so they thought. In one of the best stretches of the season for Yavneh, a 16-2 run shocked Covenant. Griffin Levine tied the score with another rainbow triple and then found suddenly scorching David Steinbrecher in the corner for three and the lead at 12-9. The Sophomore Levine continued to lend a helping hand, finding Rubinstein in the lane for the 8th straight Bulldog point. Yavneh led 15-9 after one period of play by forcing 7 turnovers and out-shooting the home team by 7%. Steve Levine made it an even 10-0 spurt with another steal and a pull-up jumper. Jonathan Ochstein would find Steinbrecher for another corner triple and Steve Levine closed out the first half with one last three pointer for a 23-14 halftime lead. The Bulldogs forced 10 turnovers and held a 40-30% field goal shooting edge. The biggest difference from the first meeting was first half three point shooting. Covenant’s 5/10 became 1/11 this time around and the advantage for Yavneh could have been even more if not for a sea of missed layups and 6 offensive rebounds allowed. It was quite the turnaround with better defense and even some shot making. This looked like a playoff team at long last but could they sustain it for another 16 minutes and secure a big conference win?
The answer seemed like a resounding YES with 2 more minutes of shutout defense behind Steve Levine and Noah Rubinstein steals. Levine threaded the needle on an out-of-bounds under play to Steinbrecher for the finish that gave Yavneh a game-high 11 point lead with just under 14 minutes to be played. From there it all went haywire for the Bulldogs. A 24-4 Covenant run out of nowhere seemed all too typical during district play. Turnovers, missed layups, and poor shot selection led to Covenant open looks that were now finding the basket. Covenant tied the game at 25-25, and despite a Chernikov finish, reclaimed the lead at 28-27 moments later. Yavneh got an Ochstein jumper but trailed 35-29 after three periods of play. The Covenant game-high lead was 38-29 with 7:12 to go as the wheels once again had fallen off for a team that at times can look so good and then just fall apart. Sophomore Pierce Bell seemed to spark something with a crafty move to the basket to slice the lead to 38-31. Chernikov followed with a lane jumper and suddenly the game was workable again at 38-33 with 5:45 to go. Rubinstein assisted Chernikov on yet another mid-range hit after a Covenant basket and Steve Levine’s scamper to the hoop continued the Bulldog run at 8-2 to cut the deficit to just 3 points. However, the second devastating second-chance three pointer for Covenant left the score at 43-37 with just 2:39 remaining. The Bulldogs would need a strong finish as they continued to battle back. Griffin Levine turned the corner and drove right to the rack to cut the lead to 43-39 with 2:08 to go. At the 1:32 mark a series of extra opportunities saw Steinbrecher connect on a 9th three pointer in 2 games vs Covenant to somehow pull the Bulldogs to within a single point at 43-42. As much as Yavneh could not finish their opponent, Covenant did a horrible job protecting the ball late in this game. Several of their 22 turnovers came late and when Griffin Levine floated a baseline flipper over some out-stretched arms with 58.3 seconds on the clock, the Bulldogs had climbed the mountain. The 7-0 flurry gave the Red and Black a late road lead in identical fashion to the Heritage game. Once again, though, Griffin Levine’s potential game winner was wiped away by the ensuing defensive possession. With 33.4 seconds left, Daniel Magnuson tear-dropped a Euro-step finish that never would have made it through Customs for a 45-44 lead. The Bulldogs got a look at the basket but missed a contacted layup in which no foul was called. Spencer Jones would split the ensuing pair of free throws with 5.3 seconds to play and it looked for all the world that this game would end just like Thursday’s meeting: with a Steve Levine desperation prayer from just over half-court missing by plenty. But just as that shot trickled to no-mans land came a whistle that might as well have been called a Free Throw Trifecta Concerto. 0.7 seconds is all that remained and down 46-44, Steve Levine would have a chance to pull the escape ladder for his team. After the first freebie clanged off the back rim, it bounced high in the air and right through the hoop for one huge sigh of relief. The other two shots barely struck the net as Yavneh is now 6/6 from the free throw line all-time when trailing with less than a second to go while getting fouled on a three point attempt. Covenant would have one final chance but an errant shot fell off as time expired and the Bulldogs scored one enormous district win. With the three biggest points of the night, Steve Levine secured a team-high 12 points to go along with 5 steals and assists. David Steinbrecher added 11 points with three more triples for 9 in the pair of games. Daniel Chernikov contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds while Griffin Levine also scored 8 points along with doing a little of everything else in a gritty performance. Noah Rubinstein’s 5 assists and 4 steals were also key to the comeback victory.
Yavneh (18-9) starts another 3-game week with another key victory. Now the challenge will be that elusive consistency in district play. Wednesday night brings a key match-up at the Highlands with a team that challenged the Bulldogs for a half in the first meeting. Two more wins this week would clinch a playoff berth but the first step is to win 2 games in a row for the first time in almost a month.
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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