Yavneh defeated First Baptist Academy of Dallas 73-60 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 11-7 (2-0).
Yavneh used their pair of battering rams to combine for 37 points and 25 rebounds in shaking off nearly a month of vacation rust Monday. Not only was this the long awaited statement game from the post combo of Noah Weiss and Daniel Chernikov but also served as a message to District 3 of TAPPS 3A that the Bulldogs are indeed back for another run. Both teams struggled at the start and could not keep the basketball in their possession. 2 turnovers for each team preceded any scoring to begin the game which would become THE theme of the first half. On a career night for Noah Weiss in points and in rebounds, it was his passing that jump-started the Yavneh attack on this night. He found classmate Ori Guttman and then Daniel Chernikov to beat the pressure defense and deliver a 5-4 advantage for the home team. Guttman followed with a great cross-court find of David Steinbrecher for a rhythm three pointer. Steinbrecher’s next shot would also find the basket but only after Weiss picked it out of the air and finished at the basket. One offensive trip later he would deliver an intentional pass to Jonathan Ochstein who scooped and scored for a 12-5 lead. The strong start for the Bulldogs took a detour at that point as the First Baptist shooters started to get free while Yavneh assisted with pinpoint passing to their opponents to boot. An 8-1 FBA run tied the game at 13-13 with under 2 minutes to play in a frenetic, action-packed opening stanza. Steve Levine hopped off a plane and through US Customs to deliver to deliver a rainbow assist high over the entire defense and then another to Guttman in transition to re-establish a 4 point edge for the Bulldogs. First Baptist fought back again with 4 of their own but Levine completed one last holiday gift exchange as he stole back his own mishap for a streaking layup to give Yavneh a 19-17 lead through one adventurous quarter of play. 16 combined turnovers for the two teams gave the game an accurate feel of an early January game in which neither team had their sea legs. The second period was all that and more without much of the scoring as the teams began with nearly four minutes of scoreless, turnover-filled basketball for the entire family. Levine finally found Weiss for a layup with 4:25 to play before halftime for the second period’s first points and a 21-17 edge. Sophomore Noah Rubinstein kept the Yavneh offense afloat just long enough to stay ahead during the second period. First he found Chernikov on a good look at the rim for a creative finish. Then, he tight-roped the baseline for a strong drive to the rim and finally found Steinbecher for a deep corner two-point line drive bullet shot to maintain a 27-25 advantage. In all, the first half included 6 different 4 point or higher runs by the teams, 26 combined turnovers (14 for Yavneh), and a disturbing 7 First Baptist free throws to pace their scoring and keep the game within a single basket.
Waiting all season for that game where the Yavneh dual-post threat would just bury an opposing team, the final 16 minutes of the second district game was clearly that moment. The pivotal moment may well have been early in the third quarter when Ori Guttman found Weiss for a side-step move near the basket in which there was a ton of contact that barely seemed to phase the Senior post. From that moment, despite the missed free throw that ensued, Weiss and Chernikov could not be stopped. Chernikov gulped up a missed shot and followed at the rim for a 3-point play with ease to make it a 5-0 run for the posts out of halftime. Guttman’s steal for an easy run to the rim made the spurt 7 straight points and Jonathan Ochstein’s savvy runner in the lane combined with an almost identical Guttman steal for a basket gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead at 41-30. First Baptist responded once again with another three-point shooting barrage for a 10-2 response of their own but it was Levine’s triple from the corner that steadied the game at a 46-40 lead for Yavneh heading to the final period. The problem for First Baptist was that the Bulldogs horrendous 3-13 three point shooting (see 7 games in Baltimore as a reference point) was completely over-shadowed by Weiss, Chernikov, and even Ochstein’s ability to gather most of the misses and creative second, third, and fourth opportunities for points. Weiss had 10 offensive rebounds alone, many of them for easy put-backs. Chernikov started the fourth period with a second effortless three-point play on a put-back and with it came a commanding 9 point lead. FBA would score almost at will as their shots started to fall and the Bulldogs went into foul mode. Free throw after free throw were exactly what First Baptist needed on the road to produce enough points to climb into the game but their inability to control Weiss and Chernikov would make any progress simply a formality. It was officially a night for the Yavneh front line when Guttman found Ochstein for his second career three point hit, which came in rhythm as if he been Reggie Miller for the last 2 seasons. Levine had a nice rumble to the basket to respond as FBA trimmed the lead to as little as 5 points but for what they lacked at the free throw line in closing out the game, Weiss continued to gobble up the misses. Noah Weiss completed his career game with 21 points and 18 rebounds, both career highs in a statement double-double. The 18 rebounds tied for 6th most all-time for a Yavneh player in a single game. Daniel Chernikov added 16 points and 7 rebounds of his own in a game that on any other night would have stood alone as a headline performance. As if the duo needed to do any more on this night, they connected on 13/17 free throws, hands down better than any of the guards from the charity stripe. Ori Guttman also finished in double figures with 12 points while Ochstein (6 rebounds) and Levine each added 8 points of their own.
Yavneh (11-7) is still undefeated in TAPPS 3A district games all-time with their 12th straight victory in district. The next head hunter will be Ovilla Christian, who is new to the Bulldogs district this season. In a week that initially had the feel of Survive and Advance has suddenly taken on a new theme. With the sudden infusion of premium post play for the Bulldogs this could be the missing link to consistency on a team with much guard depth. The operating question will be was this a one game anomaly or is this the 2015 New Years resolution that will catapult this particular team to being able to compete for a second straight district title???
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!!!!!
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