Yavneh defeated The Brook Hill School 56-55 Monday night. The win clinches the TAPPS 3A District 4 title and improves the Bulldogs record to 29-4 (9-0).
If the games were 30 minutes in length, Brook Hill would have a pair of 5 point victories over Yavneh this season and yet another District 4 title. The Bulldogs, however, have scored 14 consecutive points to zero for Brook Hill in the last 2 minutes of each meeting. Yavneh got a floating tear-jerking tear drop from an embattled Sam Kleinman, led for a hefty 3.6 seconds all game, and sent a disappointed contingent of Orange-clad Guard-ians into the icy East Texas night. Brook Hill was not happy about the way Meeting #1 ended and they came out in this one with guns blazing. Guard sensation Grant Hanks connected on an early triple and Brook Hill took advantage of three early second chance baskets to jump out to an early lead. A 5-0 start became 8-2 on an another three pointer as the Guard put up 15 points in just over 4 minutes of game action. Senior Captain Sam Kleinman kept his team in the game with a three ball of his own but the offensive rebounds were putting the Bulldogs in a mighty hole. 6 points directly from rebounds made the score 17-7 in favor of the visitors. Brook Hill could not miss early from the outside but the game took on a feeling that Brook Hill was not going to let Yavneh hang around this time. Senior Captain Itai Guttman bottled some momentum on a great drive to the rack but that was answered by another 4 points from Brook Hill for a 21-10 advantage. The first period ended frenetically as Hanks picked up a technical foul but Yavneh still trailed 21-12. Brook Hill shot 56% to the Bulldogs 29%, benefited from 5 turnovers, and the trio of second chance baskets. Guttman found a cutting Kleinman to slice the lead to 7 points early in the second period but the roof was about to cave in on Yavneh. A near capacity crowd screamed, roared, and hung on every front rim, in-and-out, and loose ball. The packed stands made the SRC shine like a real Xanadu on this night. All the majestic beauty of the ambiance, however, was being tainted by an uncharacteristic collapse of basic fundamentals for the Bulldogs. Another Brook Hill 7-0 spurt, fueled primarily by offensive rebounds yet again, put the deficit at a game-high 28-14. With Yavneh on the verge of getting run out of their own gym, Kleinman found classmate David Rudomin for a dramatic corner triple to maintain contact. A nice post-to-post Guttman/Schor hookup followed by a Kleinman transition three splash had the decibel level deafening and the lead cut in half at 29-22. The run continued moments later as Kleinman found Sophomore Steve Levine, who looked his line drive three ball all the way into the basket. A quiet Adam Schor made his way into the scoring column on a layup following a heavily trafficked Noah Weiss rebound to trim the margin to just 4 points. Levine broke down the defense to find Weiss at the basket, Senior Jason Epstein went to his knees for a big-time momentum steal, and then Levine ended the half by depositing another three pointer to crawl all the way to within 2 points. The 34-32 Brook Hill lead at halftime was that low thanks to the 18-6 Yavneh push to end the half. With 8 turnovers, 7 offensive rebounds allowed (leading directly to 8 points), 1/5 free throw shooting, and watching Alex Hale put up 15 point, the Bulldogs were fortunate to be within a basket.
Itai Guttman followed his own missed shot home early in the third period but it was his second field goal in the period off a great dish from Levine that tied the score 38-38. Yavneh had climbed the mountain after being down by 14 points but just could not handle success on this night. A 4-0 Brook Hill response built the lead back to 42-38 in an instant. Kleinman may be the school’s all-time leader in assists but he has never had one quite like the inadvertent tap to Rudomin for a triple that crept Yavneh back to within a single point. The pace started to really quicken at that point and The Guard continued to capitalize. Both sides missed easy looks at the basket but the Bulldogs took quicker shots (14 missed three pointers) and once again seemed out of sync. A 6-0 run put Yavneh back down 7 points at 48-41 with less than a minute to play in the third period. A pair of free throws for Itai Guttman and a key rebound set up a dramatic ending to the third quarter. Guttman was able to shovel a pass to brother Ori for a transition layup that barely beat the third period buzzer. The 4-0 ending left the score 48-45 through 24 minutes of play and set up another intense final period between these teams. Kleinman found Adam Schor to cut the lead to a single point but yet another of the 12 Brook Hill offensive rebounds popped the lead back to 50-47 with 5:50 remaining. After a single free throw, the Bulldogs tied the game once again on a sharp baseline drive by Ori Guttman who dished to Schor for another easy finish. OG14 followed that play up with a steal in the front court but a costly team turnover would not allow the Bulldogs to grab their first lead all night. The 5-0 Brook Hill explosion that followed seemed to be the dagger spurt but you dont have to be a tremendous history buff to recall that the first game also featured a 5-point Brook Hill lead with just about the 2:16 that was remaining in this contest. As we know, Brook Hill would not score again but could it possibly happen again? As the clock wound down, the Bulldogs started to re-create the scene. Kleinman stole a pass and connected on a free throw. At 55-51, a key stop enabled Yavneh to get three cracks at making the game a single possession affair. Itai Guttman’s offensive rebound found its way out to 2/11 three point shooting Sam Kleinman. The off night did not seem to waver Kleinman’s confidence as he drained the biggest of his 12 long distance tries to pull the Bulldogs to 55-54 with 1:00 to play. Brook Hill’s fancy ball handling killed more than half the time and forced Yavneh to foul. For the second time, they made the unforgivable mistake of fouling Hanks, the best shooter on the team. But for the second time in the two games, Hanks rimmed out the front end of a critical one-and-one. If the Bulldogs were going to ever lead in this game it was going to have to be on this possession. As the ball found Rudomin in the corner, he froze before dishing to an open Kleinman. 5/18 shooting was of no consequence as he rumbled through half the paint and put a tear-drop delivery on a flotation device to rip the chords and send the building into delirium. With 3.6 seconds left to be played, Kleinman had delivered when it mattered on a tough night. Alex Hale, who led all scorers with 25 points, hit the side of the backboard on a desperation heave as time expired for Brook Hill. The 1 point lead only lasted 3.6 seconds but it was all that was needed to secure the District title. Kleinman led the way with 16 points and 6 assists while Itai Guttman recorded a monster double-double with 10 points, 16 massive rebounds, and 4 assists. Adam Schor also scored double-figures with 12 points. For the first time the Bulldogs used their highly touted BIG THREE of Schor, Guttman, and Noah Weiss to be a tri-post presence in closing a game down the stretch. Weiss played some important minutes as did Steve Levine in the first half. David Rudomin’s defensive presence was also a major factor in frustrating Hanks all night long and not allowing a three pointer in the final three periods.
Yavneh (29-4) has clinched the District title and will now prepare for the first round of the TAPPS 3A playoffs next Tuesday. First, however, Canyon Creek will visit for the final district game in less than 24 hours on SENIOR NIGHT. The celebration continues in honoring 7 Seniors, 2 of which have been four-year starters.
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