Yavneh defeated Thomas Jefferson Public High School 70-65 Wednesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 10-2.
Thomas Jefferson may have been the third President of the United States but it was Yavneh who ultimately controlled the third quarter Wednesday with the help of a 19-3 to discard the very school bearing his name. Both teams wanted to play fast early and the result was a frenetic opening period. Each team was trapping and forcing the other into early mistakes and the result was very few half court possessions. The game see-sawed with 5 lead changes throughout the first eight minutes. The quarter played to a 14-14 tie when all was said and done but both teams felt like a lot was left on the table. Junior Adam Schor had a big 4/6 start with 8 points to lead the way but 16 combined turnovers did not give either team the upper hand. Just when Senior Josh Lynn gave the Bulldogs the lead 17-4, TJ responded with an immediate 4-0 run. They were feasting on guard turnovers resulting in easy transition points and also taking advantage of multiple second chances on the offensive boards. Trailing 27-23, Yavneh got a key sequence that seemed to change all the momentum in the game before halftime. A first half ending 10-0 spurt was initiated by a seated assist from Junior Adam Karnett to Itai Guttman literally from the painted area. Karnett would then find classmate Sam Kleinman, this time from an upright position, to tie the game at 27-27. Karnett and Kleinman would finally complete the run, each connecting on a triple in the final minute of the second quarter. The six point lead despite 14 turnovers had things looking up for the Bulldogs as long as they did not have a repeat of Tuesday’s second half complacency.
To the home crowd’s dismay, however, their team figuratively forgot to come out of the locker room during the first four minutes of the second half. TJ took a page out of Cambridge’s book from a night earlier with a humbling 11-0 run over the first 3:39 of the third period. Both teams were forcing up ill-advised downtown prayers but Thomas Jefferson players were connecting on theirs. The visitors were also getting transition opportunities off more Bulldog turnovers to flip the game around and claim a 38-33 advantage. Yavneh needed a play in the worst way and got one with an Ori Guttman steal-assist to Karnett for an old-fashioned three point play at the basket. From there, the third period belonged to Adam Schor. He took a charge, finished a layup at the other end of the court, found Karnett for one finish and then Itai Guttman in a great post-to-post assist for another, and suddenly the Bulldogs were in control. When Schor managed a tip-in at the buzzer, the 19-3 outburst over the final 4:21 was complete. Holding a now 11-point lead going to the final stanza, Yavneh pledged to close this game out stronger than Tuesday night. An Adam Karnett parade to the free throw line solidified the double-digit lead for almost half of the final eight minutes until poor decision making left the door open for TJ. Similar to the beginning of the third period, TJ orchestrated an 11-3 run in less than two minutes. The Bulldogs began to panic and unravel with some terrible shot selection and that only fueled easy transition opportunities for an athletic DISD public school. With the lead down to 58-54 and 2:54 remaining, Kleinman engineered a clutch drive to the basket for a six point edge. After a subsequent triple that sliced the lead to a single possession, Kleinman then found Itai Guttman at the basket, Karnett snagged a huge defensive rebound moments later, and free throws actually found their way in the basket for a change to secure the all too narrow victory. Karnett led four players into double digits with 24 points. Kleinman added 14 of his own to go along with 9 assists, Schor tallied 12 points/8 rebounds, and Itai Guttman also scored 10.
Yavneh (10-2) will take their nine game winning streak into a Saturday evening battle with SPC powerhouse St Marks School of Texas. While the series has been completely one-sided in favor of St Marks, the teams have never played this early in the season and the Bulldogs are the team riding a truck-load of momentum. Either way, the game will be a huge measuring stick as to where this team sits going into the final month of calendar year 2012.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack
M&MTL-BW-SP