Trinity Christian School of Cedar Hill defeated Yavneh 62-41 Thursday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 15-6 (3-3).
Somewhere between perfection and 28 turnovers lies the formula for Yavneh to defeat Trinity Christian. On this Thursday night, however, those giveaways were the primary jet fuel for a Trinity offense that otherwise struggled to put the ball in the basket. Where Ovilla somehow sliced and diced the Bulldog defense for 32 minutes, Trinity misfired 11 times from three point range and really did nothing special in the halfcourt. Steve Levine gave the visitors a taste of their own medicine in swiping a basketball to tie the score at 2-2 early on in the contest. Levine’s second theft led to a nearly minute-long Yavneh possession that frustrated Trinity and ended with a Steve Levine finger roll for the lone Bulldog lead of the night at 4-2. TC-CH responded with a 7-0 spurt keyed by the first bunch of the 28 forced turnovers. The uncontested layups that resulted were deadly to a game that had all the makings of a tight defensive affair to that point. Levine scored the first 8 points for Yavneh and countered all the free Trinity points he could. His shake-and-bake drive to the basket electrified the crowd but the home team continued to trail 11-8. After one of very few Trinity distance hits, Levine and Jonathan Ochstein teamed up to find Noah Rubinstein at the basket for an AND NONE finish as the opening quarter wound down. Trnity held a 16-10 advantage through that first period courtesy of four breakaway layups off the 5 Bulldog turnovers. The lead swelled to double digits early in the second period only to be halted by a nice Griffin Levine floater. Other than scoring off Yavneh miscues, the visitors did barely anything in the first half offensively. Rubinstein’s tip follow and a pair of Ochstein perfect free throws kept Yavneh within 10 points at halftime. The teams combined for 2/15 from three point range but Trinity used the 11 turnovers and 3 easy putbacks to build a tenuous lead.
The Trinity pressure started to wear on the Bulldogs with a 12-2 run starting the third period. The turnovers were growing at an even more rapid pace and some of them were totally unforced, including three on the sideline in succession during that run. The first three pointer of the night came courtesy of Steve Levine from the corner to stop the bleeding and chop the lead from 20 points down to 38-21. In fact, that shot ignited a 7-0 Bulldog to surge the home team back into the game at 38-25. Ochstein capped the run with a multi-pump fake finish with Trinity players doing jumping jacks all around him. Trinity responded with a pair of field goals but Griffin Levine’s off the glass floater and Steve Levine’s second mesmerizing figure 8 gallop to the basket kept the score just 43-29 late in the third period. The teams traded baskets to begin the final stanza but the turnovers were catching up to Yavneh and Trinity’s 6-0 run was the nail in the coffin on this night. 6 straight points off Bulldog carelessness made the score 51-31. The Bulldogs got 4 shots on one single possession but just could not put the ball in the basket which also deflated the cause. David Steinbrecher did manage to catch fire late in the game, connecting on a pair of three pointers (one with contact and a foul), and in turn chopped the Trinity lead down to 55-39 with 2:33 to go. In the end, though, 28 turnovers were too many to overcome. If a nearly flawless effort was truly needed in this game, 28 mistakes was not the answer to “nearly”. Steve Levine led all scorers with 17 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 steals. David Steinbrecher added 10 points and 5 rebounds with a late surge. Also of note, Junior Post Daniel Chernikov missed his second straight game off a re-occurrence of his ankle injury.
Yavneh (15-6) is now .500 in the district and in a position of needing to regroup for a run through the final 10 contests. The next week will be key as the team plays a pair of road games, one of which is against First Baptist on Tuesday. The Bulldogs would do well for themselves to record their first road district win at FBA, whom they will surely be battling with for playoff positioning. Is this team primed for a run that will counteract a sub-par district start? Can they finally win on the road when they need it the most? Who will step up as the second/third consistent scorer to help out Steve Levine?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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