Yavneh defeated Dallas Lutheran 43-32 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 13-3 (1-0).
2016 and TAPPS district play got off to a turbulent start Tuesday but in the end Yavneh did a little more than just enough to survive Night #1 in the 9-team mega-conference’s swan song season. At the very beginning the Bulldogs looked like they were in perfect form and laughed at the talk of rust from the nearly month layoff. Steve Levine found Daniel Chernikov for a layup less than 10 seconds into the contest. Moments later the Yavneh lead from the outset swelled to 6-0 as Chernikov tip-followed in another point blank basket. Truly healthy for the first time this season, DC21 had his entire repertoire working early as he found Jonathan Ochstein headed into the lane for a crafty three point play and a 9-2 advantage. On pace to coast over the 70 point mark on this opening district night, Yavneh would catch a little more than a draft. Lutheran would claw back into the game with a 6-1 stretch but the Bulldogs closed out a 12-8 first period. Neither team scratched 34% in the opening stanza but the home team feasted on 6/6 free throw shooting. In fact, the second period would not only be a slow crawl with more whistles than dribbles of the basketball but also a war of attrition with nearly half the building sitting on benches with 2 fouls. Lutheran completed their 10-3 run to tie the game at 12-12 before Ochstein’s drive-and-dish feed to Chernikov surged Yavneh back into the lead. Sophomore Pierce Bell took a huge charge and grabbed a rebound to give the Bulldogs some momentum but they just could not stay out of their own way as Lutheran scored four points in a row for their first lead of the game at 16-14. Once again, however, Chernikov was there with the response as yet another offensive rebound follow completely flipped the script. This one was a mid-lane put-back that shot-put the basketball into the hoop for a Bulldog edge that they would never relinquish. The referees were the real stars of the second period as the two teams paraded to the foul line for the final 5+ minutes of the half. Griffin Levine extended the lead with a pair of the 17 free throw attempts to secure a three point edge again followed by a sight that Bulldog Nation had been waiting for all season long. Senior tri-captain David Steinbrecher made his long-awaited return and drilled his first triple to double up the lead at 22-16, completing an 8-0 run but more importantly a return that could be the difference in a very good team and one that is truly special. The halftime lead was 23-19 for Yavneh with the big story being efficiency from the foul line and atrocious 1/11 three point shooting that kept the game tight. Chernikov led the way with 10 points and 5 rebounds while the Bulldogs turned the ball over just 2 measly times. 5 different Yavneh players had a pair of fouls while Lutheran had even worse issues on their side.
The three point line most likely hand-cuffed Yavneh in the first half but may actually have been the difference in second half success. Noah Rubinstein did not have to travel to the jungles of South Africa to find Steve Levine at the wing for a long-awaited three ball and a 26-19 lead 90 seconds into the third period. Levine may have taken a while but he was most certainly back when he connected on a second triple courtesy of 2016’s first Levine to Levine connection. Those two baskets were all the Bulldog scoring for the third period with Lutheran also slowing to a halt with only 4 points. Methodically, though, Yavneh was stretching the lead on the back of Steve Levine. Pierce Bell made a nice pass to Levine in the corner for a third three pointer as with 6:46 to play in the game the entire second half scoring for the home team was the trio of Levine triples. 32-24 was a nice lead and Yavneh needed one spark to put the game away. That spark came from Junior Zach Epstein, who dashed across the court to beat all 4 Lutheran players to their own inbounds pass. The play led to a Steve Levine layup while moments later Epstein assisted Levine in the corner for a fourth second half three pointer and a game-high 37-24 lead. The Bulldogs fired two final daggers with Ochstein tip-following his own miss and Steve Levine making it a cool 5 three pointers in the final 16 minutes to finish Lutheran once and for all. Steve Levine must have been watching Jimmy Butler as he led all scorers with 17 points (all in the second half). Lutheran must have had a tough time identifying Levine visually until it was way too late and they paid a hefty price. The first half belonged to Daniel Chernikov, who finished with 11 points to go along with 6 rebounds.
Yavneh (13-3) outlasted Lutheran but has some serious work to do still this week. One final trip to play a district game against Mc Kinney Christian before they bounce up to 3A is all set for Thursday night. The Mustangs have high hopes to finally win a district game against the Bulldogs and may have just the right timing to do it if Yavneh does not improve upon their offensive performance. Conversely, this Yavneh team is at full strength and completely healthy for the first time this season and it may only be a matter of time until district opponents will have to face this unfortunate reality.
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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