Yavneh defeated The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy 61-58 Sunday morning in a Tier 1 Consolation game at the Red Sarachek Yeshiva University Tournament. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 33-6.
Yavneh did not forget how to play basketball when they crossed into the Eastern time zone after all!! 4 players scored in double figures, the Bulldogs decided to play possum with host school MTA, and they got a nifty three point play from 2 Seniors to salvage an opportunity to play for 5th place at the YU tournament Monday. Senior Tri-Captain Adam Karnett carried over the missed shots from the last game but this one morphed into one of those shot-passes to stake Yavneh to an early 2-0 lead. Itai Guttman scored early and began to initiate the offense by getting the ball up on the rim early and often for himself and cohort Adam Schor to follow home. The Bulldogs were off and running early, something they were never able to do on Friday. Karnett found classmate for a few more days David Rudomin and then connected on a triple of his own for an 11-6 advantage. The squad from Dallas was simply too fast for an MTA team that looked for most of the first half like they had mud in their shoes. A late 5-0 run did trim the MTA deficit to 15-12 but Yavneh would establish control in the second period. The opening stanza saw the Bulldogs shoot 67% to MTA’s 29% but 7 offensive rebounds kept the NY host school squarely in the game. Steve Levine nearly doubled the advantage but his half-court shot missed off to the left with mooooore than enough time still remaining in the first quarter. Junior Noah Weiss began the second period with a failed dunk attempt that did, however, net a pair of swish free throws. Another soon-to-be Senior Ori Guttman found Sam Kleinman for a triple and a 20-14 edge. Weiss also pulled down significant rebounds in that second period run which were a rarity on this morning. Yavneh could simply not get any momentum on the boards and struggled to hold MTA to single shot possessions all game long. Sophomore Jonathan Ochstein dished Itai Guttman for a game-high 7 point lead at 25-18 and the Bulldogs led 33-25 at halftime. Other than rebounding, it was pure domination by the Red and Black with only 5 measly turnovers over the initial 16 minutes of play.
Yavneh really put their foot on the gas pedal to start the second half, sharing and caring their way to 6 assisted points and a 39-25 lead. When Rudomin snatched a ball at half-court and acrobatically finger roll finished in transition, the margin was getting out of control for MTA. While everything had gone so terribly wrong on Friday, all the bounces were going the way of the Bulldogs a game later. Schor’s behind the back, falling out of bounds assist to Karnett was the icing on the cake and opened up a 19 point spread with 3:48 to play in the third period. A mini MTA run was no concern as Karnett found Levine on a slick out-of-bounds left side finish for the 48-34 lead late in the third period. A once 19-point lead sat harmlessly at 12 points on a Schor tip-follow with 6:20 to play. The margin swung between 12 and 10 for most of the next 2 minutes and when Karnett’s bank shot floater found the net at 54-44 the game seemed to be in hand. The lead was cut to 8 points briefly but Kleinman’s steal and angled bounce pass to Karnett in transition should have sealed the deal at 58-48 with 3:20 to go. The 130 seconds of madness that followed seemed for all the world to be the inexplicable unraveling of a Yavneh time that just 2 games ago still seemed invincible. 10 straight points to even the score at 58-58 took just over 2 minutes of game time and was almost surreal. There was no defensive resistance from the Bulldogs and MTA had the crowd behind it in making a furious run. Again, defensive rebounding was non-existent and the offense sputtered for a brief stretch which all but cost Yavneh the game. At 58-58 with 1:13 to play, the Bulldogs could not even get the ball into the front court and turned the ball over on a 10-second violation that truly was example of time flying when you are not having a good time. In a possession for MTA that seemingly lasted an eternity and encompassed 2 timeouts, Yavneh got the last laugh. With nothing but dribbling and timeout calling, Adam Karnett made the defensive play that saved the tournament. Absorbing the out-stretched hand of an oncoming defender, Karnett got the ball back for his team with 15.2 seconds to win the game. As the Bulldogs held for the final shot, they needed to execute and escape the very difficult situation that had been self-created. In a play they simply call Cheese Danish, the true irony may be that the execution of the play enabled a certain bench coach to actually consume a cheese danish versus dealing with an overtime. Nevertheless, Sam Kleinman threw a near perfect lob pass to Adam Schor who finished with contact for the three-point play that finally tallied a 59,60, and 61st point. A last second desperation heave was not particularly close and the MTA crowd left unfulfilled. Adam Karnett led the way with 17 more points while Adam Schor bounced back nicely with 12 points, 9 rebounds of his own. David Rudomin also netted double figures with 11 points and Itai Guttman tallied 10 points, 8 rebounds.
Yavneh (33-6) will play one ginormous 40th game Monday morning. There is no more potential for the 7 Seniors that will shoot for 5th place at Sarachek. With potential gone, the time is now for this group of septuballers that have 32 minutes to polish off their legacy. Regardless of outcome this is the 2nd best finish for the Bulldogs at the YU Tournament in school history. A win over North Shore Hebrew Academy, a team undefeated in NY Yeshiva League play and champions this season, would be the ultimate end to a storied season and career for this group.
The Kennel Report, now in its tenth season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack
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