Yavneh defeated Dallas First Baptist Academy 48-45 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 28-4 (8-0).
For the second time in District play, Yavneh somehow navigated its way out of a mine-field of trouble on the road amidst mass hysteria for a narrow 3 point victory. Fighting flus, bruises, sprains, a raucous crowd, and an extreme lack of defensive rebounding fundamentals, the Bulldogs once again showed grit and determination in stealing a win on enemy turf. The game began harmlessly with a pair of Itai Guttman to Adam Schor Senior Post connections for a 4-0 beginning. The shot quality quickly dwindled, however, and First Baptist capitalized in transition with a 7-2 spurt. Sharp shooter Justin Lovvorn continued his reign of terror on the Bulldogs for a second consecutive period, banging a bank shot triple from deep to spearhead the run. A Schor free throw and the first three ball of Sam Kleinman’s epic long distance night surged the Bulldogs back into the lead at 10-7. Sophomore Steve Levine finished the period with two nice assists off the bench to keep Yavneh in front 14-12 after one period of play. Each team gave away the basketball 5 times, field goal shooting was within a single % point, and the game was evenly back and forth during the initial 8 minutes. Sophomore Jonathan Ochstein began his best career quarter with a huge hustle rebound but the game was tied at 14-14 minutes into the second stanza. On this night, when the going got tough, Kleinman had a long distance reply. His fade-away corner triple landed him halfway to the stands but pushed the Bulldogs into a 17-14 edge. In a game that became fragmented and choppy, Kleinman delivered once more to establish a game-high 4 point lead and a 26-22 halftime advantage. Both teams had some major issues with 18 combined turnovers. FBA shot just 37% to Yavneh’s 46%; the Bulldogs, on the other hand, could not keep the Saints off the offensive glass (6 offensive rebounds allowed) Kleinman had 11 points on the 3/3 three point shooting and Ochstein nailed a pair of jumpers to go with an incredible 5 rebounds. His burst of energy more than compensated for a shortened bench due to various factors in the first half.
Early in the second half it seemed that Yavneh would methodically pull away and make life easy on themselves. Itai Guttman’s multi-step Texas 2+ step made the score 28-22 but the 6-0 First Baptist run that followed was exclusively courtesy of an offensive rebound epidemic of magnanimous proportions. It seemed as if there were 12 home jerseys running around as every shot found a First Baptist player on the rebound. Guttman was able to halt the run in finding Kleinman at the basket for a tough lefty conversion and a 30-28 lead. On the ensuing possession, Kleinman swiped a basketball and Steve Levine found Senior David Rudomin at the right wing. Rudomin closed 1.753 eyes and buried a deep triple off the window while absorbing heavy contact. The electric 4-point play suddenly restored a 6 point advantage at 34-28. First Baptist could have folded like so many Bulldog opponents but they were comfortable in their building and really appreciated the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th chances they were getting each offensive trip. A 5-0 FBA run right back led to an ugly sequence before Kleinman found Schor inside to end the third period with a 36-33 lead for Yavneh. One disturbing sequence began the final period as First Baptist missed a shot, scored a layup plus the foul on the offensive rebound, missed another shot off the free throw offensive rebound, and rebounded that shot to miss yet again. With all the none-sense, the Bulldogs still were able to extend to a 39-35 edge when Kleinman went straight to the rack for a momentum finish with 5:43 to play. This game was filled with answers to every big turn, and the next belonged to FBA scorer Kendrick McCollum. His three point play crept the home team to within a single point and a not so shocking second chance finish on the next trip actually gave FBA the lead 40-39 with 3:56 remaining. Kleinman quickly flipped the score to 41-40 Yavneh less than 12 seconds later but the late fourth period had arrived AKA Lovvorn Time. The FBA marksman had been subdued since early but curled into a go-ahead three ball for the 43-41 lead. With 2:34 to play the momentum was all with First Baptist and Yavneh once again was teetering on the brink away from home. Kleinman, however, had one last dagger to leave behind. A Shake-and-Bake wing trifecta was Kleinman’s fourth make in 4 long distance attempts and was the delivery that put the Bulldogs into a 44-43 lead late in this contest. The Red-And-Black may have had the lead but bedlam is what followed. One turnover gave way to a nice defensive play by Itai Guttman and with 48.2 seconds left Yavneh needed to hold on to the ball. Instead, a gorgeous sideline inbounds pass to the wrong team led to a worst-case scenario gift wrapped Lovvorn clean look from downtown. As the ball sailed just off the back rim a feeling of destiny may have hit the Bulldogs in regards to winning District 4 of TAPPS 3A. Steve Levine calmly sank a pair of free throws off the 1-and-1 that followed with 27.9 seconds to play but FBA’s Phillip Cooper was able to drive right to the hoop and dice the lead back to 46-45 somewhat easily. A left-handed turnover with 8.5 seconds left gave First Baptist one more chance but having a pair of fouls still to give was key in the next possession. David Rudomin, who hit the huge shot as part of the four point play but had taken some ill-advised shots in the time since, would be the defensive hero on this night. Playing physical and not afraid to pick up the common foul his team had to give, Rudomin simply yanked the ball away just inside the three point line and then buried the two pressure free throws that followed. Down by 3 with no timeouts left all FBA could do was misfire on a nearly full-court desperation shot that had no chance. Sam Kleinman led all scorers with 18 points on perfect three point shooting with every one of his baskets coming at crucial, desperate times. Adam Schor quietly delivered a 12 point, 11 rebound, 6 block double-double but seemed to also finish baskets at critical times. Jonathan Ochstein’s first half, David Rudomin’s four point play and end of game sequence, Steve Levine’s free throws, and Itai Guttman inside battle all rounded out a gritty victory on the road.
Yavneh (28-4) will have a chance to win District 4 of TAPPS 3A Thursday night against Brook Hill. If the first meeting was any indication, the game should be an absolute war. The Guard has owned this district for several years and will not go down without a fight. The Bulldogs should have a significant home court advantage with a record-crowd expected and this highly anticipated rematch is now less than 44 hours away and counting.
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