Yavneh defeated Arlington’s Burton Adventist Academy 72-53 Monday night.
For a second straight game on the road to start the season, Senior Jonah Eber was spectacular in carving up an opponent. His 25 point/10 rebound Double-Double combined with double figures from classmate Mason Schwaber and immediately comfortable Junior transfer Jason Prager was far too much to handle for a Burton team that turned the ball over 26 times. While there is no question that the depth of this team is staggering with a pair of sub-20 points wins while key injuries, players on classroom excursions both at home and abroad included but not limited to Los Angeles, The Ukraine, and Harvest Hill Road, the BIGGEST takeaways to this point lie in the painted area. Eber and Schwaber have bullied two teams with substantial size and left them searching for answers, a prospect that cannot help but raise questions as to how opponents without legitimate size will dare to compete. As for this game specifically, a sluggish start saw no scoring for almost 105 seconds until Eber’s first of ten rebounds found Prager on the outlet for a 2-0 lead. Not quite halfway through the opening period, Schwaber buried fellow post Greg Zorrin deep in the painted blue for the Bulldogs second field goal and a 5-1 edge. Prager continued his hot first-half three point shooting, a site for the sorest of Red-and-Black eyes, with a bomb from nearly half court and an 8-1 tally. Meanwhile, Eber was flat doing work at the basket, parading to the free throw line on multiple AND-ONE and AND-NONES. There was no resistance in close as, while Schwaber occupied Zorrin, Eber muscled in field goal after field goal while banking in some free throws and strategically missing some others just so he could score 4 instead of 3 on a single possession. Junior newcomer Avery Levy’s majestic one-legged floater seemed to play scores of classical music on its way down and into the net…and the hoop this time for his first career points as a Bulldog. Junior Tom Oster’s steal and assist led to the first double-digit advantage of the night, Prager assisted Schwaber for a slow motion buzzer beater, and Yavneh had the lead 25-14 lead after one period of play. Scorching 76% first quarter shooting had the Bulldogs poised to notch triple digits as Eber’s 12 points and Zorrin’s 10 led the way early. Prager connected on another triple, this one from the wing, and a Levy to Schwaber connection netted a 34-19 advantage with 5:21 to play in the first half. In a somewhat sluggish stretch in the second period, the Bulldogs turned back to their security blanket as Eber rumbled coast to coast for one finish that was so high-pitched that canines all throughout the Arlington zip codes were bothered by the Hertz frequency. While a late stretch in which Burton benefited from multiple offensive rebounds and Bulldog turnovers kept this game within ear-shot at halftime, the 18-point/7 rebound/4 steal masterpiece from Eber carried the Bulldogs to a still 40-25 edge. 70% shooting and 36/40 total points from Eber/Schwaber/Prager were enough to overcome 13 first half turnovers for the visitors.
The Blue Angels from Southwest Arlington, similar to their sibling team just a few miles away, briefly found a formula that worked in the second half only to come up short by running the ball three plays too many (Note: in basketball this is technically illegal while in the other instance just severely frowned upon given the game situation) Nevertheless, Burton came out of halftime with a 6-0 burst, finding success in speeding up Yavneh by forcing quick shots and forcing more turnovers. Eber suddenly found a Sophomore, Noah Ohayon, for a layup to stem the tide and restore order. And another second-year star, now showing up in herds, saw Ben Rael deliver on an isolation drive to the rack for a 48-34 lead. That help in brief moments of slippage rejuvenated the Bulldogs and Eber got right back into the mix to score for a 50-34 score. Yavneh would recover defensively to win the third quarter 13-11 despite a charging Burton team who had issues finishing at the basket but were getting way too easy looks at the basket. The turnover chain was not a good thing for this group either as the afore-mentioned travels and passes to a host of black jerseys highlighted by five steals for early defensive player of the year nominee ben D rael who was late not late to the party told the story. Eber also had five steals and Junior Elisha Klein, who does everything threes, notched his own trio of steals. A 17-point lead headed to the final stanza had the Bulldogs in great shape to escape with a victory. Senior Reece Parker, just slightly unsuccessful on a myriad of near charge takes accounting for many of his first four fouls, made all that heartbreak early in the fourth quarter. A daunting slip into the abyss between a Blue Angel wrestler and the hoop gave Parker a charge take for the ages and accidentally kick-started one final run to finish this game. Schwaber responded with an AND-NONE finish at the rim but the madness of the run was just beginning. Rael assisted and stole, Prager finished two times in transition, and at long last the Bulldog lead had reached 20+. No 2019-20 Yavneh basketball game would be complete without Senior big man Reece Neiman displaying his vintage passing skills, this time for a Treynash wing triple from Hillel Baynash in which the pass basically directed the ball straight into the bucket…it was that good!! In other news, Jonah Eber finished the game with his first DOUBLE-DOUBLE of the year with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists on 11/16 shooting. Mason Schwaber added 14 points to go along with 8 rebounds and Jason Prager was not far from being in the potential “triple-double” conversation at 12 points, 5 assists…Also of note, Noah Ohayon scored all 8 of his points in the second half on perfect 3/3, 2/2 shooting from the field and free throw stripe respectively.
Yavneh (2-0) has had no problems with a 5A and most recently 2A TAPPS school on the road to start the season. There has been shooting, energy, defensive moments, and a ton of brute force in the painted areas in two games that just about average to 70 scored/50 allowed. With no time to breathe until a Tuesday evening home opener with 6A TAPPS foe Liberty Christian, the excitement of what is shaping up to be an electric season for the Bulldogs is starting to rev up. Liberty will provide the first major test with their size, fundamentals, and rich tradition. While they have beaten Yavneh in 5 out of 6 all-time meetings, the one defeat was to a Bulldog team eerily similar to this one that boasted depth, an inside-outside consistent attack, and a team that just felt like it would be one of the greatest in school history. That team beat the Warriors and went on to have a legendary season, leading Tuesday’s matchup to be at the very least intriguing…
The Kennel Report, now in its 16th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack +XF M&M
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