Yavneh defeated Temple Central Texas Christian 57-45 Saturday night in a TAPPS 3A Round of 32 BI-DISTRICT playoff game. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 23-10.
8:30pm is a late start for a basketball game but for Yavneh it was more like a 9:15pm start to the dismay of a capacity crowd. Junior Steve Levine found Sophomore post Daniel Chernikov to tie the score at 2-2 early in the opening period. The offense was off and rolling except for the fact that it would be well over a quarter of play until the Bulldogs would see their digits on the scoreboard change from the 2 points. It was literally the worst time to have the season’s thirstiest drought; and this one was an epic famine that looked for all the world to be an ugly end to what had been a promising 2014-15 basketball season. CTCS was not exactly lighting up their side of the ledger but 9 first period points were 7 more than the 2 for the home squad. Truth be told, Yavneh to a man looked frightened, lethargic, and lifeless. A whopping 11% shooting from the field explained many issues but 7 turnovers and misses on both free throw attempts added to the frustration. Everything was in super slow motion, and 24 minutes was all that seemingly remained in the careers of 5 Seniors and the seasons of the remaining sophomores and juniors. In actuality the 7 point deficit was not of serious concern but enough time had passed at this point to wonder if things would ever turn around. A 4-0 Central Texas run to begin the second period put things over the edge and the lead at 13-2 with 5:44 to play before halftime. In 10 minutes plus of game action the Bulldogs had 8 turnovers and still just two points on a single field goal. Yavneh was about to lose its first ever home playoff game in the most inept fashion imaginable. What followed instead was the minute and 18 seconds that saved the Yavneh Bulldogs season. It all began with a Noah Rubinstein to Ori Guttman run-out layup that allowed an entire building to exhale with……yes an actual field goal for the home team. Before CTCS realized it still had a commanding 9 point lead, a monsoon opened up on them just that quickly. Levine and Ori Guttman tallied back to back steals to provide much needed energy. It was the Senior Guttman, however, that made the statement that seemed to wake everyone up. His body-contorting bank shot finish with contact sparked one basket and Levine’s alley oop missed layup got Chernikov back into the action with a finish as well. In just 1:18 the Bulldogs had quintupled their score to trail just 13-10. The turnover prone visitors from Temple did not have time to process what was going on as the building had turned hostile and overwhelming to them in this time of impending disaster. A sleeping giant had been awoken and the last thing this team was thinking about was scoring more points. It was a struggle just to settle the ball into their offense at this point much less get a clean look at the basket. Chernikov connected on a pair of bonus 1 & 1 free throws to somehow trim the lead to a single point only 1:43 removed from trailing 13-2. Levine would tie and take the lead for Yavneh on free throws one per trip at a time. The great news was that the Bulldogs were shooting charity shots for almost the final 5 minutes of this historic second period. The not-so-great part was that they connected on just 5/13 of them. With Levine’s free throw and a 14-13 advantage for the first Bulldog lead of the game, CTCS probably felt that they trailed by 45 points…and they might as well have. They had frustrated and halted the Yavneh bigs and the guards, forcing awful shots for most of the half. They could not, however, account for the determination of Guttman. He brought a different level of intensity during the run, finishing another transition opportunity amidst more contact and then grabbed another steal that led to a clean Chernikov high post jumper. The final 5:44 of the first half saw CTCS score nothing at all on very few shot attempts through all the turnovers while Yavneh exploded for 17 straight points. 19-13 was the halftime lead courtesy of Guttman’s 8 points on 4/7 shooting with the trio of steals.
If it was Guttman who saved the day and drew the line in the sand that the season would not end on this night in this building, he sure did a great job of inspiring a committee of helpers for the final 16 minutes. Mired in foul trouble for almost the entire first half, Senior Noah Weiss connected on a nice inbounds layup to keep the lead at 6 points moments into the second half. CTCS, however, started the second half like the first and Yavneh turnovers once again put them in a precarious position. A 4-1 mini run cut the Bulldog lead to 22-19 and momentum was starting to be an 8 minute halftime away for the home team. Noah Rubinstein, who has become familiar with the personal runs in which he does a little bit of everything, took the next minute of the game to re-establish the lead. Rubinstein delivered a great pass to Levine for a wing triple, the first and only such make of the night for Yavneh. A steal on the next possession set up Levine once again, this time for a dizzying lefty finish at the basket. The advantage had reached 8 points at 27-19 with that 5-point Rubinstein/Levine led outburst but Central Texas Christian was not going anywhere. The post combination of Nathan Dosa, also in severe foul trouble, and Senior Captain James Applegate did great work on the offensive glass to keep within contact. The lead was once again trimmed to as few as 4 points but the last 3 minutes of the third period belonged to the triumvirate of Levine, Chernikov, and Guttman. Chernikov scored from multiple locations away from the basket for 6 points in that stretch alone, picked up a steal, and started a hockey assist through Levine that culminated with Guttman’s fancy layup. 37-29 was the edge heading to the final 8 minutes. With the Bulldogs needing a put-away sequence, Rubinstein took the lead. His fifth steal of the game found Levine on the run and deep into the paint. Levine, who had an outstanding extra pass type of game, volleyed the ball back to a gracefully stumbling Tripp Rubinstein for an and-one finger roll finish that sucked the remainder of life straight out of the Central Texas Christian contingency. With the score now an insurmountable 40-31 with 7:10 to play, Levine hopped into the lane a possession later to thread the needle to Weiss for 42-31. The Bulldogs held the ball for a key 2 minutes down the stretch to shorten the game but less than stellar decision making trimmed the lead to 43-38 with 2:30 remaining. Free throws had been a problem both in this game and beyond for Yavneh but the guard tandem of Rubinstein and Levine were money down the stretch of this one. Only 2 free throws were missed in the 2-minute Bulldog parade to the free throw stripe, and a Zak Schultz mid-court inbounds strike to Rubinstein for a streaking finish put the finishing touches on a come-from-behind thrilling survive-and-advance victory on this Saturday night. Daniel Chernikov was sensational after an awful start, finishing with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds in a mammoth double-double performance. For all the times he relied on Noah Weiss to clean-up his rookie year growing pains, it was Chernikov that returned the favor and extended his post buddy’s career for at least one more game. Three 11 point scorers were equally essential to securing this home playoff victory. Ori Guttman, who jump-started the comeback, also grabbed 7 rebounds and the 3 critical steals to go along with his 11 points. Steve Levine dished out 8 assists and also stole 3 basketballs to complement his 11 points. And finally, Noah Rubinstein connected on 7 big free throws plus 5 assists, 5 steals, and the 11 points. Noah Weiss rounded out the scoring with a quiet but effective 7 points, 6 rebounds in action limited by foul trouble.
Yavneh (23-10) has still never lost a TAPPS home playoff game on any level. Up next for the Bulldogs is a second-round match-up with Arlington Grace Prep. The 1st place finisher out of District 2 received a bye in the opening round and, while highly regarded, split games with the same Waco Vanguard team that the Red and Black handled in overtime this season. The match-up is slated for Friday afternoon at a neutral site to be determined. Yavneh is into the Sweet 16 of 3A for the second straight year and is one win away from a dynamite rematch. Either the afore-mentioned Vanguard team or Lubbock Christian, who narrowly escaped the claws of the Bulldogs in last year’s Elite 8 thriller, await the winner. How will it all shake out?
only time will tell!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its eleventh season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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