Cambridge defeated Yavneh 53-40 Tuesday evening. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 1-1.
Sophomore Elan Kogutt tallied his career-high 30th point with 4:50 remaining before watching his team yield the final 13 points in stunning fashion Tuesday night. It was all part of a game-ending 30-7 Cambridge run that saw Yavneh implode in literally the blink of an eye. The game turned 180 degrees from a late third quarter 10-point lead that the Bulldogs had methodically built. The nightmares of Yavneh past reared their ugly heads once again in the form of horrific rebounding margins. The Bulldogs were out-rebounded 42-19, including 20 Cambridge offensive rebounds. Nothing would have indicated that the game would have ever turned as ugly as it did. Junior Captain Miles Pulitzer drilled a three pointer early in the first quarter to hoist the Bulldogs out in front 8-5. They held the lead after a quarter, taking full advantage of Kogutt’s buzzer beating triple off a nice pass from Senior Captain William Zalstein. Yavneh built their lead to multi-possessions in the second stanza as Kogutt found his mid-range shot. A 7-0 Bulldog run ended the first half on a high note, and it seemed as if some rebounding adjustments could valet Yavneh to an easy win. While they were out-rebounded by a seemingly large 22-12 margin in that first half, who would have known that things would get a whole lot worse under the boards. Things would indeed get better for the Bulldogs in the third quarter. The two teams traded five point runs before Yavneh broke out 33-23 late in the third quarter behind more Kogutt perimeter shooting and Freshman Reid Cohen’s first high school basket. It was then that fortunes would change for the remainder of the evening. A 7-0 Cambridge run finished the third quarter and spring-boarded the home team to a big final period. Finally, the easy point-blank shots that the Bulldogs had been missing for most of the game were starting to prove costly. Those misses turned into buckets at the other end as the duo of Cambridge big men dallied through the paint. When they weren’t finishing at the rim or playing volleyball with their plethora of missed shot attempts, they were shot-putting three pointers from several angles (5/8). Cambridge gained the lead with 6 minutes remaining, and hit the game winning three pointer to break a 40-40 tie with 3:45 left. The Bulldogs appeared to have snapped the run with a Zalstein steal and assist combo to Kogutt from half-court. However, that would be the last Yavneh basket of the game. A Cambridge layup line ensued, and only the game-ending buzzer stopped the onslaught. The entire Yavneh community was in utter disbelief as a game seemingly in hand turned into a rout just like that. Lost in translation were some encouraging performances by an up-and-coming Freshmen class. For the second straight game, Junior Josh Karnett took a charge. He and classmate Joe Lerer provided some quality minutes off the bench.
Yavneh (1-1) will play Mc Kinney Christian Friday afternoon at home. The accelerated maturation of the Freshmen posts will be a key to ending the rebounding problems that so dearly cost the Bulldogs Tuesday. Kogutt’s career and game-high 30 points were impressive to a point but he disappeared at times including the critical stages of the second half. Finally, promising Freshman Jordan Prescott has yet to have his breakout game with just 7 points thus far. The ingredients for success exist in this team but only time will tell what the finished product might be.
The Kennel Report, now in its fifth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M