Yavneh defeated Cambridge 49-43 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 8-4.
Jordan Prescott scored a game-high 16 points in just 18 minutes as the Bulldogs coasted albeit over some choppy waters late to dispatch Cambridge. Playing without second leading scorer Adam Karnett (rest), all the other 13 players saw at least 3 minutes of action. The Bulldogs started the night off right for the first time all season and actually won the opening tip. Prescott was triple happy early on, connecting on a pair of early long ones for a 10-4 lead. Senior Ben Romaner did his best Tim Tebow impersonation throwing the option shovel pass to David Rudomin for a 13-6 first period finish. The second quarter turned into a three point festival as Prescott hit a third triple followed by connections from Josh Lynn and Sam Kleinman. In fact, Jason Epstein’s power finish amidst contact broke the game wide open at 26-10. The lead held at 16 points for halftime. Each team was continuing a Thanksgiving celebration by sharing the ball 10 times a piece with their respective opponents during the first 16 minutes. The Bulldogs bad shot selection from games past was resurrected into “long range proficiency” in the form of 6/10 from three point range.
Unless the halftime speech consisted of giving yet another opponent a run to start the second half, Yavneh once again failed to execute out of the locker room. This time a 4-0 run for Cambridge instantly put the game in doubt. The lead never did get sliced to single digits in the third period but a sluggish Bulldog squad started to crumble on the defensive interior and needed a Zak Schultz prayer bank triple to lead 43-30 after three quarters of play. More than the ability of Cambridge to create opportunities off the dribble, they pounded the glass into submission during the final eight minutes. One possession featured 4 Cambridge offensive rebounds as they essentially ran a rebounding clinic in the Yavneh paint. 15 offensive rebounds for the game put Cambridge within striking distance but similar to the previous night the Bulldogs had just enough of a cushion to ward off any serious threat. Cambridge engineered an 11-4 run to creep within 6 points but less than a minute remained at that point. Romaner once again showed off his passing skills finding Epstein under the basket for a game-sealing lay-in for a 49-41 lead. The 6 point fourth period was exactly just enough points for the Bulldogs to get halfway to their goal of a 4-0 week.
22 turnovers will not get the job done in a hostile environment Wednesday. Yavneh (8-4) will face a hungry Thomas Jefferson team that they defeated in a hard fought game two weeks ago. The game featured a thrilling fourth quarter comeback and was much closer than the final 10 point margin might indicate.
The Kennel Report, now in its eighth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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