Baltimore’s Beth Tfiloh defeated Yavneh 57-48 in the SEMIFINALS of the The Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Tournament in Baltimore, Maryland Friday. The loss, combined with an earlier Overtime victory over Beth Tfiloh in the final preliminary round game 41-40 leaves the Bulldogs season record at 9-6.
Two action packed contests against host school Beth Tfiloh Friday definitely gave spectators a thrill ride but in the end Yavneh will not have a chance to avenge their championship game loss from last year. A game that was deemed meaningless to the tournament standings ended up being a nail biter through four periods and an overtime with the Bulldogs barely surviving several mistakes in the final seconds to notch an emotional win with different personnel. Those mistakes, however, were not so forgiving in the Semifinal and almost the entire Beth Tfiloh school did not fail to be a loud reminder several times over. Eitan Hariri buried an early three pointer to kick start an 11-0 Beth Tfiloh run to begin the contest. Yavneh could not get out of its own way early on and BT made them pay. Senior Noah Weiss connected on a layup but with 5 more given points to the home team and a variety of questionable Bulldog violations, a 16-2 score shell shocked the visitors. Of the 16 points, 10 were directly off turnovers and the crowd played a major factor in the initial run. Daniel Chernikov hit a baseline jumper to stop the bleeding and a monster Weiss rejection ignited what would be a 10-0 Bulldog response. Senior super-sub Ori Guttman drove hard to the basket twice and completed a three-point play while classmate Zak Schultz nailed a triple for a 16-12 score. A pair of BT and-one finishes cracked the lead back up to double figures and the score was 25-14 after a period of play only because Noah Rubinstein connected on a runner at the buzzer. A 12-3 spurt for Yavneh to start the second period was exactly what was needed to quiet the crowd and put Yavneh back into the game. Jonathan Ochstein scored on a pair of tip follows, Chernikov stole a pass for a layup, and Steve Levine drilled two momentum jumpers to draw the Bulldogs to within 28-26. A 4 point deficit at halftime was manageable but the 11 turnovers were the story and one more streak of those would most definitely be lights out.
BT scored the first 6 deadly points in the third period to extend back to a double digit lead thanks to more Yavneh turnovers. Once again Levine provided momentum with a wing triple to cut the lead and when Guttman found Rubinstein in the corner for a long distance connection the lead was just 39-34. In all, a 9-0 spurt by the Bulldogs late in the third period got the visitors to within a single point at 39-38. Chernikov and Rubinstein tallied steals, both of which were fed to Levine for dramatic finishes. The key sequence that followed at 41-38 was the beginning of the end for Yavneh in this semifinal. They had possession of the basketball with 11.2 seconds remaining in the third period and had the opening possession coming as well to start the final period. Another inopportune turnover gave BT an easy layup to beat the clock and suddenly the game was at a 5 point margin. Another three turnovers to start the final stanza pushed the lead up to 7 points and eventually 48-40. The game was never closer than 6 points again as turnovers and mental errors ruled the day down the stretch. Levine led the way with 14 points and Guttman added 9 of his own, while Ochstein’s 9 rebounds helped to bring the team back. 17 live turnovers were too much to overcome in that environment against a capable albeit beatable team.
Yavneh (9-6) will try to win its 10th game of the season in the Third Place game Saturday night against Ramaz. If nothing else, the Bulldogs should correct the errors of Thursday night in which Ramaz took control of a tie game to start the fourth quarter. A win would give the team a winning record for the tournament and much needed momentum heading into district play back in Texas.
The Kennel Report, now in its eleventh season, has been written by…
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