Lutheran defeated Yavneh 62-56 Thursday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 12-5.
Living on the edge one too many times finally spelled an end to the Yavneh winning streak Thursday. The turnovers and the offensive rebounds allowed were being overcome nightly during the win streak but on this night it was the little errors that compounded to sink the ship. Just like the first Lutheran game, both teams slopped their way to a turnover infested opening period. The Bulldogs, however, found the rhythm nearly half a period into the game. Senior Captain Jordan Prescott’s slow motion gallop to the hoop and a foul line jumper that followed staked Yavneh to a 9-2 lead. Lutheran’s Brian Johnson countered with an offensive explosion of his own to level the game at 13-13 at the end of a quarter. The teams both were shooting above 55% and also turning the ball over at an alarming rate (12 combined). Once again Prescott was getting to the hoop whenever he wanted but Johnson hung right in there at the other end. The second period featured 8 point runs by both teams. Each trailed by 4 points at least once but the halftime score favored Lutheran 28-26. Prescott and Johnson were dueling with 16 points apiece. 5 missed free throws for the Bulldogs hurt the cause but the game would be decided in the second half.
The pace quickened to begin the second half with both teams turning to full court pressure. An 14-5 Lutheran run to begin was nothing new for the slow starting second half Bulldogs. The faster pace seemed to favor the more athletic Yavneh team but they just could not score. Trailing 42-31 the Bulldogs had to take that pressure to another level and Senior Kevin Sulski sparked a comeback run with his leaping steal. He was joined by Prescott and Adam Karnett in blitzing Lutheran up and down the floor during the final 2:35 of the third period. A flurry of forced turnovers by the Bulldogs maddening pressure led to a runout and back to back Prescott triples to somehow dramatically tie the game at 44-44 to end the third stanza. Lutheran was tired and ready to crack mainly because Johnson had totally disappeared from the star watch. After recording those 16 points in the first half he would not score again. Chris Shannon, though, was just getting started. The Lutheran post was getting ready to take over the paint for a dominant final eight minutes. Sophomore Itai Guttman gave Yavneh the lead briefly to start the final quarter with a strong inside move but that was short lived. A 10-2 Lutheran response included five consecutive inside finishes by Shannon, who at times seemed unstoppable. Trailing 54-48, Yavneh needed another spurt from their pressure. Prescott once again delivered six straight points to tie the game, aided by a pair of Sulski steals. His last theft displayed Sulski’s ability to run laps around the gym diving for the ball on more than one occasion and eventually doubling back to surprise the ball handler all on a single possession. It was truly a game of runs but Lutheran had the last one. With the score tied at 54-54 and 2:53 to play Shannon finished the deal with another traffic finish. Time had run out on the Bulldogs Thursday. On so many occasions during the 7 game tear Yavneh made that last run with just little enough time on the clock to eek out a win. On this night, though, it was the opponent that did just that. Prescott finished with a game-high 34 points while Karnett added 11. Guttman and Jake Greif pulled down 10 and 5 rebounds respectively but Lutheran sported a more balanced scoring attack with their top four combining for 58 points.
Yavneh (12-5) will be off until next Thursday when they finish the semester with a Mc Kinney Christian tilt. The Bulldogs have dominated the rivalry in recent years but a rebound will be necessary to end 2011 on a positive note.
The Kennel Report, now in its eighth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
TL