HSAA North defeated Yavneh 87-59 Tuesday night. The loss begins the Bulldogs season at 0-1.
A new look Yavneh basketball team played a tale of two halves on opening night against a stacked HSAA team and ultimately took one on the chin. The Bulldogs looked lack-luster and a little timid in the opening minutes, surrendering the game’s first 5 points in a hurry. Senior Zak Schultz finally connected on a free throw and then driving scoop finish to trim the HSAA lead to 5-3 nearly 2 minutes in. The Yavneh deficit would grow to 13-5 before the Bulldogs really started to feel comfortable. This was the most athletic HSAA team that has ever come to play Yavneh, featuring a 30+ point/game scoring lead guard in Nick Thomas and a pair of athletic posts that could run the floor. While it was a track meet early on, the Bulldog rookies punched HSAA back right in the gut to creep back into the contest. First-year Sophomore post Daniel Chernikov found an energetic Ori Guttman in transition to dice the lead to 6 points. Guttman, now the only one with that particular last name remaining on this year’s team, started his Senior year with a bang. Sophomore Noah Rubinstein wasted no time burying his first Varsity shot, a corner triple to pull the Bulldogs to within a single basket at 13-10. Yavneh stayed right with the super athletic visitors and really matched them shot for shot for the remainder of the opening stanza. Guttman assisted Junior David Steinbrecher, another brother now left all by himself, for a pair of rhythm jumpers. A frenetic ending to the first period left the Bulldogs trailing 22-19. All things considered, only 4 turnovers and a +4 rebounding advantage had Yavneh right in the basketball game. Chernikov really started to assert himself in the second quarter, connecting on a high post jumper to trim the lead to a single point and then actually finding Junior Steve Levine in transition to deadlock the game at 24-24. Guttman and Chernikov exchanged great passes on the next pair of possessions to answer HSAA baskets both times and keep the game tied at 28-28. The two looked like they had been playing together for years in just their first half of basketball ever on the same court. Levine, who had been seemingly and surprisingly absent to that point, intercepted a pass for a transition finish and with it Yavneh’s first lead at 30-28 became a reality. A looping Guttman full court sprint finish actually extended the lead to 32-28 but HSAA would have the answer. A 7-0 spurt, fueled by 5 costly Bulldog turnovers in a very short stretch, flipped the game around completely. Guttman beat the second quarter buzzer to make Yavneh’s deficit just a single point at 35-34 for halftime. The Bulldogs won first half rebounding and, although the late turnovers were costly, 9 for the half was manageable. The most encouraging occurrence was 12 assists on 15 made field goals. Ori Guttman and Daniel Chernikov tallied 8 points and 5 assists each in what was a refreshing start to the season for both players. With a pair of Noahs and two others in foul trouble with 2 each across the board, HSAA was gifted 12 free throw attempts or they would have trailed almost certainly. Rubinstein’s debut was also quite impressive, as he was able to rebound the basketball, distribute with ease, and even knock down a jump shot. If the home team could repeat this performance for one more half and maybe keep Nick Thomas and his 16 first half points in check down the stretch, a special opening night could indeed be in store.
The only problem was that a different Yavneh team jetted out of the locker room. The poise, determination, and efficiency for which they showed over the first 16 minutes suddenly disappeared. Both teams started the third period slow with just a single HSAA basket on the scoreboard for nearly two minutes of action. The wonderful Bulldog passing, however, was about to switch sides. A 21-5 HSAA run that commandeered the game was almost exclusively fueled by Yavneh passing the ball to them. In one segment, 4 straight possessions saw turnovers ignite fast-break layups. As crisp as Yavneh looked in the first half, the third period was a wheels off crumbling of magnanimous proportions. Defenseless to 13 turnovers yielding a quarter HSAA owned by a score of 34-11, the Bulldogs were left to wonder what could have been on this night. The lead would grow to 20 and then 27 points on the way to anti-climactic 28 point victory for HSAA. Thomas finished with 38 points for HSAA, most of which were assisted by players with opposing jerseys. The fourth period provided its moments including the return of Senior Meir Epstein with a baseline jump-shot put-back, a hustle offensive rebound save to put Freshman Zach Epstein on the board, an almost four point play from David Steinbrecher falling off the court, and finally another Naxon rebound….newcomer Junior Will Naxon that is. Daniel Chernikov led the team with 14 points to go along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds. David Steinbrecher added 12 points while Ori Guttman notched 10 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Yavneh (0-1) can take away some very good and not so good from Opening Night. On one hand, they played a very talented and athletic team shot for shot in the first half and had the most talented HSAA team ever on the ropes for 16 minutes. On the other hand, this team must mature in the areas of ball security and mental focus if they want to defend their district title in 2014-15. The journey continues in less than 48 hours when Burton Adventist of Arlington pays a visit to the SRC. Will the glimpses of magic the Seniors showed early in this first game become consistent enough to be considered reliable? Will the rookies that shined early on continue to grow and mature into players that will solidify the depth of this basketball team. Will the anticipated star powered combo of Steve Levine and Noah Weiss become visible to the human eye? Will this team become the squad that so many experts have predicted to be the next Great Yavneh dynasty?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!!!!!
The Kennel Report, now entering its eleventh season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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