Yavneh defeated Dallas Lutheran 49-38 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 14-8 (5-1).
The Yavneh post duo of Daniel Chernikov and Noah Weiss combined for 29 of 48 points as the Bulldogs turned the tables on a district opponent in the first quarter by this team being the front runners for a wire to wire victory Tuesday. Instead of trailing 16-1 like a night earlier, Yavneh stormed their way to a 17-2 advantage on this night, playing quite possibly their best basketball of the season over the first 6 minutes of the game. Junior Steve Levine found Chernikov for a potential three point play that actually became a four point play as Jonathan Ochstein tipped in the missed free throw for 4-0 just 15 seconds into the contest. The posts exchanged back to back helping hands as Weiss found Chernikov for a foul line jumper and then the reverse combo for a great cutting Weiss finish. Levine looked locked in early and he stole no less than 4 first period basketballs, all of them leading to points. The first led to a streaking three point play finish at the basket for a 13-2 lead and the next two found Weiss in transition for a pair of easy layups. The final first period Levine steal netted a twisting acrobatic finish for a 20-3 advantage. When Ochstein found Ori Guttman streaking to the basket with still just over 2 minutes to play the Bulldogs had seized complete control at 23-6. The magical first period saw Yavneh shoot an insane 90% from the field (9/10) Lutheran shot just 22% and, while only committing 5 turnovers, all of them led directly to points. The second period began with a great Levine inbounds pass to Senior Grant Prengler for a layup under the basket but that 25-6 lead would be the game-high advantage for the Bulldogs. The next 7+ minutes and beyond was never as crisp as the beginning while Lutheran shots slowly began to fall. With the Bulldogs scoring only 9 points over the last 10 minutes of the first half, a Lutheran parade to the free throw line kept the game within 11 points at halftime. Yavneh picked up the turnovers, started misfiring on shots, and used inexplicably poor clock management to led the Lutheran comeback charge. 7 missed free throws did not do the visitors any favors either while Lutheran was busy connecting on 7/10 of their own.
The lead would shrink to as few as 9 points early in the third period at 32-23 before a Noah Rubinstein foul line jumper on the move and then a great pick-and-roll Ochstein pass to Chernikov pumped the lead back to 36-23. Levine, seemingly on vacation since his legendary first quarter, found Guttman in transition for a finish with contact moments later but a 9-2 Lutheran spurt led by David O Brien’s three pointer and lane runner made the score a very tenuous 38-32. Chernikov’s second chance basket ended the third period at 40-32 but the Bulldogs had somehow made a game of what looked for all the world to be a runaway early. Those 23 points in the first 6 minutes saw only 17 added in the next 18 minutes of play. Yavneh needed a big finish on the road for the first time in district play and they seemed to get just enough to squeak by without too much drama. Guttman made a key steal that turned into a crafty lefty finish by Weiss to make the score 42-32 with 6:56 remaining. Levine lobbed a basketball high over the defense for a Chernikov finish at the 4 minute mark to increase the lead to 12 points and Lutheran just could not produce enough offense of their own down the stretch to pose a serious threat. The advantage would get as low as 8 points the rest of the way but Guttman tallied one more steal with 1:54 to play and his team winning 46-38 that all but sealed the victory. Had Lutheran scored more than 6 points in the final stanza or any points at all in the last 2:30 of the game, the Bulldogs may have been in some trouble. A 13/24 free throw shooting night easily could have been a much bigger problem coupled with scoring at the other end. As it was, Lutheran missed shots with the clock running as opposed to the stationary bricks that their opponents were chucking from the charity stripe for an uneventful Bulldog district win. Daniel Chernikov led all scorers with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Noah Weiss added 10 points while Steve Levine’s 7 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals mostly all in the first 6 minutes accounted for most of the rest of the offense.
Yavneh (14-8) bounced back nicely and took care of business as they had to. No road conference win can ever be taken lightly and another opportunity awaits the Bulldogs Thursday as they travel to Irving’s Highlands School. The game will serve as an important district game to finish the second long week of January but also a 2014 first round playoff rematch in which Highlands season came to an end at the hands of the Black and Red.
The Kennel Report, now in its eleventh season, has been written by…
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