Yavneh defeated Celina Public High School 80-63 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 16-4.
A trio of Adams combined for 51 points and Yavneh exploded to end the third period and put away a pesky Celina group that challenged all night long Tuesday. Playing a true running team for the first time in months, the Bulldogs were the team that sprinted out to the fast start on this night. A spectacle of passing staked the home team to a 10-2 lead just minutes into the contest. Four nice assisted baskets along with a coast to coast Sam Kleinman steal set the tone and the game had all the makings of a blowout from the start. Celina, however, responded with a pair of long distance connections combined with two Yavneh travelling violations literally wiping away baskets. The Bulldogs lead was only 20-17 after one period of play, shooting 69% from the field. The three pointers continued to drop for Celina in the second quarter as the lead was trimmed to a single point. Surging post Adam Schor continued to improve notching a third consecutive career-best performance. That single point margin became 7 in the blink of an eye as Itai Guttman assisted Schor both through a shot to be cleaned up and then a nifty post-to-post pass. Kleinman added a theft assist to Adam Karnett, who was super active in his return from a neck strain. The score was suddenly 32-25 but Celina closed the first half with a 7-2 run. The Bulldogs shot over 60% for the half but turned the ball over an alarming 13 times. While Celina was drilling points in triplicate (5/9 from three point range), Adam Schor was busy connecting on all 7 of his field goal attempts from point-blank distance.
Itai Guttman quickly re-established the lead at 38-32 with a pair of baskets in the opening minute of the third period. Every time Yavneh would try and pull away, turnovers would keep Celina in the game. Schor finally missed a shot on his 10th attempt (his only miss of the game) but that miss pogo-ed right back to him for an easy follow. Guttman and Schor were more importantly cluttering the paint and causing logistical nightmares for Celina to rebound the basketball. Once the ball got on the rim, the Bulldogs were sure to score. However, so many times Celina was gifted a free pass on defense in the form of turnover after turnover and the lead sat at just 44-41 with 2:47 to play in the third quarter. Ori Guttman and Sam Kleinman decided to reverse roles for a split second as Guttman fed Kleinman for a wing triple and a 47-41 advantage. Celina marksman Kyle Sudberry kept his team afloat with a number of three point makes but the game took an ultra-frenetic turn at the end of the third quarter. The pace of the game started to quicken even more-so than before led by Karnett, Kleinman, and David Rudomin. Several transition opportunities found that trio in the passing lanes, at the basket, and on the floor to fuel a 14-6 run ending the period. As the game got chippy, the Bulldogs used their edge to intensify the pressure and put away Celina for good. The lead never crept back into single digits during the final eight minutes as Celina finally was wearing down. Kleinman distributed well in the final period as he did all night long, Adam Steinbrecher connected on a key put-back in the lane, and of course the posts continued to own the inside. The lead nearly reached 20 points towards the end as a battle throughout the first 22 minutes turned into a rout. Adam Karnett led all scorers with 25 points. Schor followed with 24 points of his own on 12/13 shooting from the field. Itai Guttman added 16 points and Kleinman double-doubled with a solid 10 point/10 assist night.
Yavneh (16-4) had everything working offensively against a team that welcomed the fast paced style. Karnett was back and looked like he had not missed a beat. The big man duo of Schor and Guttman was as good as it gets in producing points and Kleinman served admirably as a floor general. HSAA South is next up on Thursday and should be another stiff test in remaining undefeated for January.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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