Yavneh defeated Beth Tfiloh of Baltimore (BT) 61-32 and then blasted The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) 70-41 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 11-2.
If Wednesday was a typical sluggish Day #1 at the Weiner Tournament for a team that always seems to get better as the week moves along, Revenge Thursday for Yavneh was just as typical. The Bulldogs avenged the crushing 2018 Semifinal loss to Beth Tfiloh as well as the 2007 Beren/Yaffe Tournament 1 vs 2 heavyweight title bout to HANC each by 29 point margins Thursday. Playing in front of a capacity crowd on BT’s Hurwitz gym floor once again, a tight first period had this contest looking eerily like the game from a year ago where Yavneh would be eliminated on a fateful Friday afternoon. Mason Schwaber’s tip follow were the only points for the Bulldogs over the initial three minutes of play as the 2-2 stalemate had this game crawling along. Jason Prager found Ben Rael for an elbow jumper and Jonah Eber scored on a second chance opportunity to build a 6-4 advantage but the teams were simply trading baskets at a snail’s pace for most of the first 7 minutes of play. With the game knotted at 6-6, Prager provided a huge momentum shift with a finish at the rim and a trifecta just before the buzzer to stake the Bulldogs to an 11-6 edge. The game was being played possession by possession and even in almost every category except Yavneh’s ball security edge which held a 4-0 lead in turnovers. This tournament really started to shift for the Red-and-Black in the second quarter as their energy stepped up to levels seen previous to their arrival in Maryland. Eber snatched a rebound and coasted down the court for a lefty scoop with English, Hillel Baynash notched a steal producing free throws, and Prager brought rain with a nice floater from the baseline. The energy continued with a slick Rael feed to a back-cutting Elisha Klein for an 18-12 lead and Rael rose above sea level to finish a runner off a pass from Prager for an 8-point lead. The 25-14 halftime lead was courtesy of the 9-1 turnover edge that led to 12 more shot attempts than Beth Tfiloh. In this half court game still slow in overall pace, Prager and Rael set the tone by finishing on multiple plays for scores and that execution was the difference. Tyler C Winton buried a corner triple early in the third period to keep the shot making going and BT was living on the edge as scoring was difficult against a locked-in Bulldog defense. Rael got a steal for more points and also connected on a baseline jumper to build a game-high 34-22 advantage. The up-and-down Sophomore was nothing but up on this afternoon as he looked nothing short of brilliant all game long. This added dimension with so much attention by BT to limiting Schwaber really put a dent in the home team’s hopes for competing in this game. The final period was more of a party than a basketball game as the Bulldogs ran an offensive clinic. Scoring 25 points in the last 7 minutes alone and yielding a measly 6 points, this team seemed to become a threat to win this tournament in the blink of an eye. Prager found Winton for a TW3 that included a guitar lesson for the BT student section for a 39-26 edge with 6:45 to play but that was only the beginning of a high-flying circus act. Winton fed Schwaber in the corner for a three pointer that for all intents and purposes told Beth Tfiloh that this game was officially over. Frustrated and shocked as they did not receive the Long Distance Schwaber memo and now facing heavy Bulldog pressure defense for the first time in the back court, the roof caved in on a gym that was barely within fire code. Sailors with milk bottles to hand out to opposing coaches, countless students dressed up in various Purim/Halloween costumes, and all the noise in the world could not rattle the Yavneh attack….not in this final period. Eber stole a basketball for a layup, Schwaber found Prager for another floater, and Rael completed a cousin-to-cousin hookup for an Eber 9 bounce and in three ball. Turnovers were flowing like a leaking water faucet with extra caffeine and a 23-6 extended run had turned the score into a 59-32 rout. Senior Simcha Malina slung a great pass to classmate Reece Parker late to help cross the 60-point plateau as the Bulldogs had finally arrived to this tournament. The story of this game were turnovers and shot attempts as BT was on the short end of a 24-4 turnover number and attempted 24 less shots in this game. 14 points from Jason Prager and 12 points from Ben Rael carried the offense while Tyler Winton/Jonah Eber combo notched a combined 17 points. Eber and Mason Schwaber also collected 6 rebounds apiece in the win.
The momentum continued less than 4 hours later with an explosion to begin the HANC game. Well maybe not at the very beginning as Yavneh trailed 5-0 and 7-2 on some rare Thursday defensive breakdowns. This group from New York may not have been admitted to the Dallas Independent School District but Junior transfer Avery Levy saw the 4-letters on the HANC jerseys and decided to go DISD on them anyways. Trailing 7-2 , the Bulldogs hopped on Levy’s back and rumbled their way to a punishing 20-0 explosion in that first period. After a Prager to Schwaber baseline jumper, Levy scored with the left hand….he scored off a steal…he scored in transition….and he scored on the hop. He was simply running circles around HANC in an 11-point quarter that might has well been 50. Prager connected on a rim-rattling pullup jumper and Eber buried another trifecta to complete this unnerving run, sending HANC fans for the double exit doors. Baynash found Eber on the run as a 22-9 first quarter lead kept on growing. Winton connected with Prager and then Noah Ohayon for an oasis three pointer from the win as the margin soared north of 20 points. Treynash tomahawked a corner triple with ease off an audible as well late in the 37-13 first half. The Bulldogs controlled the turnover margin once again, held a healthy lead on the boards, and really just dominated this NY team with energy in running wild in this game. 5 more points from Prager to begin the second half came via a pullup trifecta and a Winton feed in transition as the game seemed to be the rout of all routs at 46-13. But Noah Goldstein, who nearly scored 30 on Yavneh a year ago, willed his team back into respectability with a great third quarter response. After the Bulldogs had run off 20 straight points earlier in this game, Goldstein scored 10 in a row as part of a 20-2 HANC spurt that sliced the lead to just 15 points at 48-33. Only an Elisha Klein to Schwaber rim run added points for Yavneh in this stretch but a 15-point lead was still healthy heading into the final period and yet again this team would finish strong. Prager set up Schwaber for a sweet post move, Eber found Prager in the corner for three more points, and the Bulldogs were off and front-running once more. The lead once again moved into the 20s and one last dagger lightning flash run finished this epic day on a high note. Schwaber bounced a pass off a HANC defender’s head to Prager for one more basket x 3 points, followed by a Winton monstrous block that careened to Prager for the rebound assist back to McBuckets for a heave from the left corner and in. The 16-4 final period spurt had capped an energy-filled day that set up the Bulldogs for Semifinal Friday at the Weiner Tournament. Jason Prager (18), Avery Levy (13), and Mason Schwaber (10) all notched double-figure scoring while Prager and Schwaber also dished out 6 assists each. Noah Ohayon broke out with a 7 point/8 rebound effort while Schwaber and Tyler Winton (9 points) also had 7 rebounds apiece.
Yavneh (11-2) has clinched no worse than the 3-seed and will be playing someone other than HAFTR (their only defeat in this tournament) in the Semifinals Friday afternoon at 1pm Baltimore time. That game will be an opportunity to right what went wrong a year ago and surge back into the Saturday night prime-time Finals for the chance at a 3rd Weiner Tournament title in 4 years. With the energy and momentum of Thursday, the tournament field has begun to take notice of this group and Friday should be an electric environment for this trend to continue
The Kennel Report, now in its 16th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack +XF M&M
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