Yavneh defeated CHANT 58-54 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 4-1.
Yavneh shot 29% in missing 43 shots, committed 22 turnovers, misfired on 12 free throws, and went 7 minutes without scoring Thursday but still managed to hold off a pesky CHANT team. If you are going to go almost a full quarter without scoring, it always helps to have a pair of big men with double-doubles in the same game. The game started ever so harmlessly for the Bulldogs, who jumped out to a 3-0 advantage behind 4 costly CHANT turnovers. The game was stagnant on both sides until CHANT swing-man Devontae Jones removed himself from the contest by attacking Junior Ori Guttman. With Jones drawing a double technical foul and an ejection, the Yavneh lead instantly went from 8-5 to 12-5 on four Sam Kleinman free throws. Guttman was able to pick himself off the floor quickly enough to find Senior Adam Schor in the lane for a game-high 14-5 lead with 2:28 to play in the opening stanza. To think the Bulldogs would not score again until nearly halftime is absurd but that is exactly what happened. The depth of Yavneh, which will be this team’s biggest asset when all is said and done, provided a different dynamic on this night. A parade of Bulldog players would enter the game over the next 7 minutes and every one of them did a great job keeping the ball out of their offensive basket. Brick after brick, air ball after air ball, and turnover after turnover, a 9 point lead steadily evaporated. In all, the 7-minute CHANT run topped out at 17-0, by far the season’s worst stretch for Bulldog Nation. Yavneh eventually found their way into the foul bonus but all that did was give them an opportunity to miss the front end of 1-and-1s. (3 in total) Sophomore David Steinbrecher finally broke the drought at 7 minutes to the second with a pair of free throws. After all the futility, somehow the Bulldogs were within 6 points. After the free throws, Senior Jason Epstein found Steinbrecher for a three point shot that actually went in. Epstein then took a huge charge to get the ball back and got a timely steal to put Yavneh in great position at the half all things considered. The positive energy was infectious as classmate Itai Guttman passed to himself off the backboard for one basket and assisted Adam Schor on a great post-to- post feed for another. There is no question Epstein and David Steinbrecher changed the flow of the game and one particular sequence right before halftime sent a message that Yavneh had survived a terrible half of basketball. Steinbrecher’s floater in the lane was rebounded by Itai Guttman tip-style and funnelled out to Epstein for an off-balance leaning three-point shot-put that was willed into the basket. To be down just 30-26 at halftime was a miracle for the Bulldogs after 13 first half turnovers and 8/30 shooting from the field.
The signature third period did not disappoint as it rarely does with this team. Before all the CHANT players were even back onto the court, Senior Captains Sam Kleinman and Adam Karnett had connected on 5 quick points to re-capture the lead. After assisting on the Karnett triple and transition layup, Kleinman bounced an assist to Itai Guttman off an inbounds play to build a multi-posession lead again. The tide was definitely turning when Adam Schor was credited for a basket that was probably scored 98.7% by the opposing player grasping for a piece of the rebound. Karnett and Kleinman were active in the third period and the pace of the game was starting to favor Yavneh big time. Senior David Rudomin connected on a three ball for a 43-36 lead but CHANT would not go away. They cut the lead back down to 3 points before Schor finished the third period with a nifty baseline jumper and yet another tip-in, this time with his own fingertips. As the game moved to the final period, Schor found himself as the beneficiary one more time. A bank-shot free throw extended the lead to a game-high 51-40. Junior Zak Schultz seemingly put up a dagger triple from the corner for a 57-43 lead with 4:26 remaining. In another strange twist, however, the Bulldogs would not score again until a single free throw in the final seconds. Yet one more epic drought allowed CHANT to end the game on an 11-1 run. On a night where offense was feast or famine (mostly famine) for the home team, the most fortunate break of all may very well have been the game-ending buzzer. Through the rubble of missed shots and turnovers, the two primary post players had productive nights. Schor’s double-double included 12 points/12 rebounds while Itai Guttman recorded an almost identical 10 point/13 rebound performance of his own. Karnett, Kleinman, and Rudomin combined for 24 points to go along with a strong 7 assists from Kleinman as well. Jason Epstein and David Steinbrecher did not score much but did nothing short of saving the game with their efforts in the final minutes of a horrendous first half.
Yavneh (4-1) came out completely flat and lived to tell about it. While their Texas debut was not a work of art, the Bulldogs will have the weekend to heal and recover from a hectic 5 games in 7 days stretch for a highly anticipated match-up at Burton Adventist in Arlington. For years this was the rivalry among schools who don’t play Friday nights in North Texas. With the renewal of this rivalry last season ending in a shellacking, Burton will be looking for some revenge at home Tuesday evening.
The Kennel Report, now in its tenth season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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