Yavneh defeated HSAA South 61-15 Wednesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 6-1.
For a second straight night Yavneh buried a team in the first half, this time using its depth to suffocate an HSAA South squad that seemed dazed and confused. For the third consecutive game the Bulldogs scored off the opening tip, this time on a nice feed from Senior Captains Adam Karnett to Itai Guttman for a layup. While both teams were somewhat sluggish in the opening minutes, the home team opened up a 7-0 lead on a Sam Kleinman steal and subsequent dish to Karnett for the finish. Guttman was dominant early for the second consecutive game and was well on his way to recording a fifth straight double-double. HSAA had trouble just getting decent looks at the basket all night long but when they did the ball went anywhere but near the goal. Meanwhile, Yavneh was carving up the HSAA defense with precision passing. Adam Schor found Kleinman on a great cut to the basket and then Karnett picked up one of his patented steals for a layup to surge the Bulldogs into a 16-4 lead after one period of play. Guttman dominated the boards with another 9 rebounds, giving him 21 rebounds in his last pair of first quarters. Once again the opposition had single-digit shooting % numbers, this time being out-shot 37%-9% on only one single made field goal. The worst part of it was that, while the offense seemingly could not get any worse for HSAA, it did just that. That single field goal would be the only one yielded by the Bulldogs in the entire first half, on their way to a devastating 25-0 blackout in the second period. Kleinman racked up two assists to start the festivities, one to Senior Adam Steinbrecher at the basket and the other to trigger Junior Ori Guttman’s personal second quarter three point shootout with himself. His trio of triples in less than 4 minutes of game time grazed not even a piece of the rim and instantly made the game a laughable 29-4 tally. All the while, freshly inserted Sophomore Jonathan Ochstein provided the likeness to the Energizer Bunny that HSAA South just did not need to see. Ochstein immediately took a charge, and then connected on a pair of free throws resulting from an open-court theft and rumble through the lane. Junior Grant Prengler drilled a wing three pointer to post a first-half 30 point lead for the second time in 24 hours at 34-4. Junior Noah Weiss, averaging a positive stat within 8.3 seconds of entering a game this season, collected a steal of his own and assisted Ochstein for another hustle basket right away. By the time Steve Levine took a windmill dribbling parade around the court and deposited one last three point field goal for the half, Yavneh had built an insurmountable 41-4 halftime advantage. The 25-0 second period made field goal shooting 45%-7%. The Guttman Brothers LLC made it a family affair, combining for 17 points as the top pair of scorers on perfect 6/6 shooting. The Bulldogs were held way below their first half turnover average, giving the ball away just 4 times while forcing 21 HSAA giveaways.
HSAA threatened to mount a comeback by scoring the first basket of the third period but then Steal City once again commenced at the SRC. Kleinman, Karnett, and Jason Epstein all got steals for layups with a quick 6-0 run. The outburst turned into another 15-3 stretch for Yavneh and a 56-9 cushion heading to the final stanza. While the second half got extremely sloppy on both sides, the lull in the game gave everyone time to appreciate the pair of near flawless basketball games and the depth with which made them possible. The most glaring struggle for the Bulldogs right now is an atrocious run of free throw shooting. The missed free throw epidemic got so bad on this night that Jonathan Ochstein tried to tip-follow the first of a pair of free throws in the final minutes. While the basket was not counted, that play may have changed the momentum in team free throws as since that time the Bulldogs are on a free throws made streak of….1. Itai Guttman once again led the way with a game-high 11 points to go along with 13 more rebounds for a fifth double-double in as many games. For a second straight game every active player scored and 9 players notched assists, led by Sam Kleinman with 6. The game also capped a stretch in which two school milestones were achieved. Adam Karnett scored his 1,000th career point on a three ball to start the third period vs Chant and classmate Itai Guttman moved into third place all time on the school rebounds list.
Yavneh (6-1) will have 4 days to prepare for a much anticipated trifecta of big-time games. Dallas ISD 5A Sunset is first up on Monday. After splitting the first four games of this now 10-year rivalry, the Bulldogs have found success winning 4 of the last 5 meetings. It will take an above average performance to hang with a Yavneh team that has outscored its opponents 331-218 since falling to Chicagoland JHS in Memphis.
The Kennel Report, now in its tenth season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
TL-BW-SP-BR