Yavneh defeated The Cambridge School of Dallas 76-48 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs season record to 5-1.
Mason Schwaber’s Double-Double led five players in double figures, the Bulldogs forced 30 turnovers, and pulled away from a second straight former state champion in their respective division Tuesday. The game started as a sort of reunion with Ben Rael returning to the court and the rim with a straight line drive to the basket, the second straight off the opening tip in games played for the Sophomore. The Tyler C Winton World Tour made a much needed stop in Dallas on this night as the Senior notched assists on the first two baskets of the contest, including a helper for Schwaber’s first bucket of the game. That veteran duo was extremely active in the opening period and surged the Bulldogs out to a 10-2 lead, a sequence that had everyone certain another Shelton whitewash was inevitable. Playing without their Third Amigo..for now, a triple tip from Schwaber, a McBuckets steal for a layup, and a nice full court feed and finish between those two had the electricity flowing early on. Cambridge would respond, however, with two consecutive three pointers to deliver themselves right back into the game at 10-8. Rael teamed up with Avery Levy on a great looking give-and-go play including a slice to the rim to restore order at 12-8, and Levy would hook up with Schwaber a short time later for another basket. The Bulldogs were scoring but at stretches in this first half were merely trading baskets, causing this game to stay close for a majority of the initial 16 minutes of play. Hillel Baynash found Senior Reece Parker flexing at the rim for a muscle finish towards the end of the first quarter to maintain an 18-16 advantage for the home team. Despite what long-time Metallurgical engineer Donald McEvoy will hypothesize at times about the visiting rims at the SRC, the Lions sizzled for 4/6 three pointers in that opening frame and got 11 points from Marlei Burrowes. Schwaber put up 7 points/7 rebounds for Yavneh in that first quarter and got the second started with a big-time blocked shot. But Schwaber’s most majestic moment of the night came on the next possession when he pilfered a pass in full court pressure and rumbled to the basket for the payoff. This was the closest Usain Bolt impersonation we may ever see as the Ma Jet (pronounced Mayyy Jet) was on the runway in North Texas once again. The second period brought a ton of offense, specifically in transition, for the Bulldogs. Elisha Klein found Baynash in the corner for a Treynash triple, Simcha Malina went opposite corner to Rael for a second trifecta, and Jason Prager set up Winton for a TW3 from straightaway to complete the cycle. In all, the 11-3 Yavneh spurt gave them a double-digit lead at 29-19. Levy scored on a nice baseline drive and an own tip-follow, both with his patented stoic stare down, and Winton both assisted and jumpered during a frenetic last couple minutes of the half. The Bulldogs led 40-28 as the teams traded baskets, porous defense, and electrified the crowd all at once in the final stages. Winton and Schwaber combined for 23 first half points, the home team forced 13 turnovers (most likely the difference), and both teams combined for 9/19 three point shooting.
Despite an ugly turnover to start the second half, the Bulldogs used a familiar third quarter run to put this game away. Schwaber finished on a tip-follow AND ONE with ease, Prager lasered a pass for a Winton trey in the corner, and Levy added another nifty runner to complete a 10-2 start that mirrored the beginning of the game. So those two stretches of 20-4 to begin both halves proved to be catastrophic to Cambridge in the overall scope of this game. Meanwhile, Yavneh continued to run and were scoring at ease as the Lions wore down. Prager and Winton assisted Schwaber and then Rael for another trifecta from the corner. Rael also found Baynash on the run for a finish, and then took a monster charge to flatten any Cambridge momentum. The lead would surpass 20 points during a critical stretch in which Tom Oster conjured up a shot-assist to Schwaber and also looted a Lions pass to assist Baynash on a three pointer. Levy also stole and assisted to Schwaber and then was the beneficiary of Parker’s look-away helping hand. Many in the crowd claim that Reece Parker was winking at them while he dished this assist for the ages but the real story has yet to be told. 66-40 was the lead for the Red-and-Black after three periods of play as the game became too quick for the Lions. Their once hot shooting had cooled off and with it went their hopes of competing in this game. For Yavneh, the best defense came late in this game as they settled down and executed after a rough start. Senior Reece Neiman had his own block party, erasing two final quarter shots, one of which he dashed full court to get into position. Baynash and Parker took charges down the stretch and Rael completed an NBA AND-ONE to highlight the late offense. With Jonah Eber (shoulder) out while he recovers, the challenge will be for multiple players to step up and combine to soften the incredible impact on both sides of the court. This was a good start with so many contributions, including a ringing Double-Double from Mason Schwaber with 22 points/11 rebounds. Tyler Winton was most definitely back and notched 15 points as did Benjamin Rael (6/7 FG), a great 30-point feat from two of your starters. Hillel Baynash missed only two shots on his way to 11 points and was a perfect 3/3 from three. Avery Levy continues to be a silent assassin, steadying the group and now starting for Eber, with 10 cool points amongst his many other contributions. Also of note, Elisha Klein and Nik Krasovitsky teamed up for 11 rebounds, a big chunk of the 36 team rebounds that the Bulldogs needed in this game.
Yavneh (5-1) has questions in the short-time that will solidify them in the long term of this season without question. An exciting time awaits with answers to many of those questions as 12 games await this team to end Calendar 2019. With Eber, Noah Ohayon, and Mo-Zander Feinstein all with unspecified exact timetables for returns, these group of games will be invaluable experience to see how this squad can rise up and be set up for a 2020 TAPPS 3A run that could be something incredibly special. The first of those games awaits Thursday at home against Frisco’s Leadership Prep. The teams have never matched up and should be an interesting contest given the highly touted individual talent that LPS possesses.
The Kennel Report, now in its 16th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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