Cedar Valley Christian defeated Yavneh 60-38 Thursday evening to drop the Bulldogs record to 14-15.
The 2005-2006 Yavneh basketball season has been a bumpy ride to say the very least. While it can be argued that the ride got a little bumpier Thursday evening, optimism remains for the Bulldogs to still salvage the season when it matters the most. Yavneh was a bit undermanned on Senior night minus Senior Captain
Josh Abrams. The remaining Senior, Amitai Scott, nailed a corner three pointer to start Yavneh’s scoring in what could be the final home game of his career. 7 first quarter Yavneh turnovers combined with several Cedar Valley second chance points kept Yavneh’s lead at only 13-12 after a quarter. The Bulldogs had given CVC their best shot and had only a point lead to show for it. More turnovers and lack of defensive rebounding cost Yavneh in the second quarter. Cedar Valley used a 12-2 run to end the first half and capture a 30-22 halftime lead. Yavneh committed 13 first half turnovers and allowed 22 of CVC’s 30 points off of offensive rebounds. Juahaelon Horton buried three huge three pointers, one from Itzy-Ribaldland, to demoralize a fragile Yavneh squad. Horton immediately punched the CVC lead up to 11 with a second half opening three, and they were rolling from there. Yavneh shut down at that point with their patented forcing of bad shots and increasing lack of intensity on the defensive end. Trailing by 11 to start the fourth quarter, the lead quickly grew to 18. Yavneh would make a mini-run to cut the lead to 14 at 46-32 but the rout was on from there. A series of embarrassing moments wrote the fourth quarter including but not limited to several turnovers on inbounds passes and a give-up alleyoop slammed home by CVC’s Olaseye Thompson. While the final score was not indicative of what could have been, Yavneh had chances to take control of this game in the opening minutes. Problems were compounded by a lack of continuing to play once the score got out of hand. The game marked a changing of the guard when Freshman William Zalstein, who was also making his first career start, was subbed in for Senior Amitai Scott with :45 seconds left. Scott provided tremendous leadership this season comprising half of the Yavneh Captains’ 2-Headed Monster. David Naxon led Yavneh with 20 points while Cedar Valley Christian had 4 players in double figures.
Yavneh (14-15) will take a losing record into the month of March for the very first time. With almost a month until the Red Sarachek Yeshiva University basketball tournament begins, the Bulldogs have a world of work to do. The coaches are extremely optimistic that the month can be used to prepare the team for battle in New York. The Bulldogs will not play again until late March but a rigorous practice and training program similar to Rocky Balboa’s preparation to fight Ivan Drago in Rocky IV will reportedly be implemented. (music included)