Yavneh defeated Cambridge School of Dallas 54-44 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 9-1.
The Giant Killers were at it again Thursday, forcing the 9th ranked small Private school in Texas into 28 turnovers en route to a comfortable double digit victory. In 96 hours Yavneh took down a 5A Public school, a 5A Private school, and a 2A Private school somehow ranked a pair of spots ahead of them in the rankings. In what could have been a magnificent battle of two teams expected to be major players in their respective districts come January, the game turned into a kickoff to the holiday gift-giving season. The teams combined for 54 turnovers in a 32-minute high school basketball game somehow…some way. Sam Kleinman, who assisted both teams 10 times during the course of the game, got off to a thrilling start with a dish to Adam Schor and then a nice give-and-go play with Adam Karnett. The post to post teamwork of Schor and Itai Guttman continued early on leading to a 6-0 start. Kleinman’s no-look helper to Schor and a pair of David Rudomin steals overwhelmed Cambridge 14-2 right from the start. Rudomin, coming off the game of his life, was active early and often on both ends once again. The Bulldogs in general were flying all over the court, and when Karnett dove halfway into the bench to save one possession late in the opening stanza it looked like this game would be no contest at all. Yavneh committed only 3 turnovers in the first period versus 10 for Cambridge and were doubling up the visitors in shooting percentage. The only concern was Adam Schor being saddled on the bench with a pair of fouls, only one that actually was committed by him. The referee’s administrative error did not seem to be a big deal at the time but would loom large and be a huge factor in the game turning. While turnovers had not been a problem to this point for the Bulldogs, opponent offensive rebound surplus issues were once again a big deal. Junior Zak Schultz connected from his corner spot once again almost instantly upon entering the game, with the actual three point line being the only reason he was awarded 2 instead of 3 points. Karnett grabbed a pair of steals in less than 6 seconds and the lead had become 12 points to start the second period. The Bulldogs, though, would not score again until the game was all square. Cambridge notched a 12-0 run all on Yavneh turnovers, offensive rebound put-backs, and layups off of defensive confusion from the home team. Kleinman broke the tie with a wing three pointer but Cambridge would actually score the next 4 points to lead for the first time at 24-23. Karnett connected from long distance to leave the halftime score in a 26-26 deadlock. The second quarter was a disaster: the shooting had completely flipped to Cambridge 45-37%, the Bulldogs had 10 turnovers in one period of play, and Cambridge now had 7 offensive rebounds all culminating in a 22-11 scoring edge.
Yavneh always comes out firing in the second half and it was once again Rudomin that set the tone with defensive pressure. His steal produced one basket, Kleinman threw an alley-oop layup pass to Itai Guttman for another, and then Rudomin sprinted coast to coast to complete a quick 11-4 stretch. Rudomin then almost ran over his own teammate in stealing another pass and handing the ball off for an uncontested Kleinman finish. The Bulldog run had now reached 19-4 with another 8 straight points as Cambridge once again buried themselves to start a half. The pace of the game had become way too quick for the visitors and when Kleinman found Itai Guttman once again on a full court rocket pass the lead was a game-high 17 points. Cambridge was not winning the game but they had managed to pull ahead once again in the turnover battle 24-20 after three periods of play. Almost every other possession featured a give-away for one of the teams and in many instances both of them. The frenetic play left Cambridge out of sorts as their success was in slowing Yavneh’s offense and jamming up the flow with their zone defense. Suddenly, however, the Bulldogs were transitioning them well before that zone could ever set up. All that was needed in the final 8 minutes was 4th quarter specialist David Steinbrecher. The first 5 points in succession went to Steinbrecher on a corner triple and a mid-range jumper off a pass from classmate Jonathan Ochstein. The now 52-35 advantage allowed the home team to pack it in for the night but did not prevent both teams from being able to play Hot Potato with the basketball. The starting 5 combined for all but 9 points, with Adam Karnett leading the way at 11. Adam Schor scored 10 points, Itai Guttman collected 12 rebounds, and they combined for 5 blocked shots out of the post position. While for the first time in 8 games neither post player recorded a double-double, it was a productive night in the trenches for the duo and a big second-half bounce back on the defensive glass. Sam Kleinman had the 10 assists, involved in almost every big connection of the game.
Yavneh (9-1) has a trio of games still to play before the Thanksgiving holiday starting with a Saturday night showdown with Romeo Prep of Paris, TX. The schools have never met before and should be an interesting match-up of guard-laden squads.
The Kennel Report, now in its tenth season, has been written by…
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