Yavneh defeated Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School 49-38 and then The Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto 46-32 in the third/fourth of five preliminary games at the The Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Tournament in Baltimore, Maryland Thursday. The Bulldogs season record now stands at 10-2.
For the second consecutive year Yavneh will enter Day 3 of the Weiner Tournament as an undefeated front-runner already having clinched a spot in the Semifinals. Having yet to see a team that can match the pace and intensity of which the Bulldogs are playing with, maybe the most encouraging sign is that they have yet to click on all cylinders. The most challenging moments of the tournament came at the outset of Thursday’s games. Specifically, host Beth Tfiloh threw a big right hook at Yavneh Thursday morning to the tune of a stifling first quarter. An all too familiar feel of Dentist Basketball in the Hurwitz gym saw the Bulldogs go 3 painful minutes to start without a single point. The home team led 4-0 until a pair of Noah Rubinstein free throws got Yavneh on the board. The first period as a whole was a disaster with BT playing at their pace and crawling their way to a 9-4 edge. Anytime the Bulldogs have gotten quagmired in the half-court this season the results have been ugly. This opening 7 minutes was a cool 9% shooting for Yavneh on 1/11 from the field. The pace was slow and slower to the delight of the home team. The score became 11-4 before a twisting drive for Griffin Levine gave the Bulldogs a chance at long last to set up their pressure defense. The littlest of openings for this team has opened the floodgates in this tournament and right on cue an 18-6 second period run commenced. Levine fed Zach Epstein for a straight away triple to creep within 4 points but the “back-breaker” of the spurt may very well have been when Levine flipped an inbounds underneath pass off a BT player’s back-side for the craftiest of two point field goals. In an era where Bulldog free throws are as consistent as a leap year, Noah Rubinstein’s 7/7 at the charity stripe on this day were an oasis of relief. His second pair of freebies combined with a Daniel Chernikov punishing finish at the rim tied the score at 15-15. Epstein’s half-court theft led to Levine finish and Jonah Eber’s floating jumper off one leg capped the run and surged the Bulldogs to a 22-17 halftime advantage. The second period surge was a welcome 17% better from the field and 18 points versus 4 points in the first quarter was THE difference. 17 forced turnovers and a shot differential of +12 saved Yavneh from the slowest of starts to turn the game completely around. The second half started much like the early parts of the first with 7 straight Beth Tfiloh points over 4:40 to account for almost 8 minutes of no scoring for the Bulldogs to begin both halves. If there is a glaring concern for this team it has to be the inexplicable inability to not score for long stretches at the beginning of halves in this tournament. Sure enough… Griffin Levine’s three for the lead trailing 24-22 nearly 5 minutes into the third period kick-started another run at 10-2. Beth Tfiloh’s final advantage of 26-25 was Jonah ThrEber’d for a two point Yavneh lead that they would never relinquish. The pace had become way too quick for BT and the combination defenses of the Bulldogs were quickly wearing out a team that wanted none of it. On the offensive end, Griffin Levine became a lead clinician of the pull-up jumper. On 4 different occasions he drilled some variation of the pull-up J to build a commanding 8 point margin. BT point guard Harris Gartenhaus provided drama with a wing triple that pulled his team to within 38-35 and 3:41 to play but the relentless pressure would not allow any further damage. Yet another mid-range special from Levine and a huge three pointer from Epstein bolstered the lead but the knockout punch came courtesy of a at-long last AND ONE tip follow from Daniel Chernikov. One final hoop and harm three point play by Rubinstein on the baseline finished off a double-digit victory that was anything but easy. Griffin Levine continued his incredible streak of 20+ point games with exactly 20 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Zach Epstein got his tournament started with a strong 10 points while the Senior law firm of Rubinstein and Chernikov had 7 points apiece. Chernikov also collected 8 rebounds of which 6 were offensive.
In a classic setup for a let-down game against CHAT once again Yavneh came out flatter than a slim pancake. In a season of slow starts this was no different as a Jekyll & Hyde day continued. For 4 minutes and 28 seconds it was impossible to tell which of the two teams was playing undefeated tournament basketball. 9-0 for the team from Canada behind a slew of offensive rebounds and second chance points, and the Bulldogs shooting basketballs everywhere besides into the basket. A Daniel Chernikov AND ONE finally broke the ice in this one for Yavneh but even more incredibly the first forced turnover came nearly 6 minutes into the contest. As has been the case, any points at all seem to entirely change the complexion of these games. Suddenly, the Bulldogs peeled off an 12-2 run like it was just another day at the office. Griffin Levine and Zach Epstein continued to be instant offense and energy with drives right to the cup, long distance connections, and steals aplenty. Noah Rubinstein’s transition layup gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead after one period despite yielding the first 9 points over halfway through that same time frame. Three successive Levine steals created more layups and free throws in another ridiculous display of cartoon-like take away finishes. In all, Yavneh engineered a 24-4 run to turn another horrific start into a halftime stronghold. The Bulldogs forced 16 first half turnovers while Levine and company were literally everywhere in that fateful second period. CHAT scored 9 points in less than 4 minutes to start but their next 9 points would not come until this game was well under the supervision of Yavneh. Micah Romaner found Noah Rubinstein for a stop, drop, and roll to the basket and a 31-17 advantage early in the third quarter. By no means was this game, the second of the day and fourth in 26 hours for the two teams, a work of art. Shooting, fundamentals, and presentation continued to deteriorate at record paces in the final 10 minutes of this game with neither team anywhere near 35% from the field. The biggest issue for the Bulldogs was on the defensive glass where they yielded 9 offensive rebounds in the third quarter alone. As for game pressure, a sluggish final period of the day meant no earth shattering CHAT comeback was forthcoming. The two teams seemed happier to be off their feet in preparation for Semifinals day on Friday than anything else down the stretch. Another Griffin Levine 20 point outing with 6 steals paced the team with Rubinstein and Chernikov combining for 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Yavneh (10-2) has created a brand at this tournament and is in the best position of their 4 years entering Friday. With a top 2 spot in the semifinals secured, the Bulldogs are one afternoon victory away from their third crack at a Saturday night championship game in Baltimore. The way in which they seem to be wearing teams down with constant and relentless pressure could very well be the formula to keeping the scores in the elimination rounds of the 2016 Weiner Tournament high enough for a Bulldog breakthrough.
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
TL-BW-SP-BR