Celina defeated Yavneh 61-49 Tuesday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 14-6.
In as strange a game of runs that Yavneh has played in this season, it was ultimately a 5 minute stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters that allowed Celina to escape Tuesday. With both teams imploring highly pressurized defense at stretches throughout the game, it was rare to see a 15-2 run for one team answered by a 27-7 run by the other team. Had the game featured a fifth quarter there was no telling what might have happened but on this night the Bulldogs ultimately ran out of time and had their all too familiar turnover and offensive rebound problems to blame once again.
For a game that had end to end action for long stretches, it sure did not start out that way. The two teams sluggishly combined for three points in the first 3+ minutes before Celina made the first push of the game. They grabbed a 15-8 lead on just 33% shooting as the Bulldogs aided their cause with horrendous shot selection. The lead grew to 11 points early in the second period before Yavneh had their best response of the season to date. In what would be a 24-10 half ending run for the home squad, everything was clicking. Junior Jake Greif made an acrobatic tip-in follow at the rim to trim the Celina lead to 19-13 and the pressure defense did the rest. As the game quickened to a pace that Celina was seemingly uncomfortable playing with their inability to control the ball, they unthinkably added to it by going to a counter-press of their own. As the game became completely scrambled, it was Yavneh that was getting all the loose balls and all the breaks. Junior Kevin Sulski and Senior Elan Kogutt showed off back to back athletic drives to the basket from opposite sides to tie the game almost unbelievably at 27-27. Moments later Freshman Itai Guttman tied the game once again on a play in which he somehow missed a shot, got a rebound, passed to himself off the backboard, and scored all in one fluid motion. The excitement was capped off with a Josh Lynn three ball off a great pass from Kogutt just before the halftime buzzer sounded. Somehow the Bulldogs had managed to grab the lead 32-29 in a truly frantic first half finish. The 15-2 run had put all the momentum in the Yavneh locker room but this Celina team was going to play all out until the final buzzer sounded.
For the second straight game against a quality opponent, the Bulldogs picked the worst time to have another drought. In an intense game, that drought caused them to let down just long enough for Celina to grab control. Just as all the loose balls and breaks went to the good guys in the first half, the tide had suddenly turned. All the energy in the building was in bright orange and the Bulldogs just could not get off the mat until it was too late. Celina nailed mid-range jump shots and started to turn the game with offensive rebounds just like they had in the first meeting. Almost at the same moment that Yavneh had gone on a turnover shopping spree in the December game, they did it again and the carelessness just was a killer down the stretch.
12 points was not an insurmountable lead in this game heading to the final stanza but the way that final sequence started was game, set, and match. In the first possession, Celina out-hustled the Bulldogs for an unreal 8 offensive rebounds. Missing shot after shot, they retrieved basketball after basketball until finally they snuck one in the basket with a foul to boot. By the time this exercise had concluded with four more offensive boards on the next trip for Celina and a subsequent basket, the lead had ballooned to 56-39. While Yavneh would respond with a run and never give up, the mountain was just too high to climb. A brief opening with 2:42 to play had resulted from several Celina turnovers and very similar energy to the ending of the first half. Had it not been for the implosion bridging the third and fourth periods the score would have been closer than 57-49 at that point. As it was, though, the Bulldogs missed three good looks to cut the lead to 6 or even 5 and time just ran out on the potential miracle.
With so many ebbs and flows to this game, it is difficult to dissect an individual play that decided it. The 12 offensive rebounds in 2 possessions (22 for the game) stung mightily. Both teams were as careless with the ball as was humanly possible (Yavneh 21 turnovers) and combined to miss 19 free throws. It was, however, the intensity by one team to play through adversity, limit the damage of their negative run, and persevere that left the Bulldogs searching for answers as to why they could not do those things. January and February are the months that teams take shape and the difference in these games many times comes down to who plays harder for the entire game. Junior Jordan Prescott struggled from the field but still led all scorers with 19 points. Free throws were not the only problematic spot for the home team as they also shot just 4/19 from three point range. Yavneh (14-6) plays a very talented HSAA North team in less than 48 hours. It will take a great effort the likes of tonight’s second quarter to halt the losing streak at 2 games.
The Kennel Report, now in its seventh season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
MWJR? 3-9