Yavneh defeated The Covenant School of Dallas 55-40 Thursday morning in a TAPPS 3A State Semifinal playoff. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 31-3, once again keeps the season alive, and sends the Bulldogs to the TAPPS 3A championship game.
The epic run of the 2016-17 Yavneh Bulldogs faced a stunning exit sign Thursday more than 10 minutes into the school’s first ever State Final 4 game. Turning things around, however, is Junior Pierce Bell’s signature attribute. The Junior super-sub injected life into a stunned and flat Bulldog squad to propel them into the championship game Friday. It was not supposed to be like this: millions watching on live streaming video, many more supporting at a “near” capacity Moody Coliseum on the campus of Abilene Christian University, and countless fans ready to make the journey Friday all could not believe what they were seeing. A Covenant team, less than 2 miles in distance from Yavneh Academy, had been buried by a combined 46 points in 2 district games when the schools met the last 2 months. But the stakes were high as can be this time, there were no surprises in terms of strategy or personnel, and the shooting background was conducive to a mortar and brick special. Covenant stormed out to a 5-1 lead as Yavneh looked like it was still sleeping at both ends of the court. Senior Daniel Chernikov finally finished off a nice out-of-bounds underneath pass from classmate Noah Rubinstein to record an actual field goal but those were too few and far between early on. Zach Epstein recorded a couple defensive steals but the team across the board was unable to steal much offense. The janitorial group at ACU worked diligently to heat the facility but it just could not help these two teams, specifically those from Dallas, Texas. Rubinstein and Griffin Levine Jr did connect on short jumpers but Covenant capitalized on a 15-8 lead through 8 minutes of play due to the offensive ineptitude of the Red-and-Black. Also, the Knights were getting free right at the basket, something that did not happen with steady regularity in either of the first pair of contests. 3/16 shooting for the Bulldogs, including 6 errant attempts from both three point and free throw lines had the crowd chanting their favorite Vanilla Ice tunes from the rafters. The Covenant advantage ballooned to 9 points at 17-8 a couple minutes into the second period, leading travel agents and trip advisers all over the Dallas community to cancel FRIDAY…the whole day it seemed. There would be no championship game…no final contest squeezed out of the careers of Epstein, Chernikov, and Rubinstein…no coronation of this magical team as a Top 2 state team like they looked so much the part. Out of the sky, though, came one Pierce Bell. Bell may have sunk the most welcomed corner triple of the season for his team followed by a transition finish to chop 5 straight points off the 9 point deficit. The silver lining for Yavneh was a double-edged sword. They attempted 15 free throws in the first half to Covenant’s 2 but connected on only 8 of them. Levine made 4 of those in the final 2 minutes of the half. The last of those freebies with literally no time on the clock combined with an Epstein trifecta somehow, someway knotted the score at 24-24. The Bulldogs had stepped up offensively ever so slightly but the real story was that at the end of the day Covenant could not pull away. Both teams struggled with the unfamiliar shooting background, combining for 3/20 from distance. While it felt like a minor miracle to have a clean slate in this game, Yavneh really just had to move the dial on the 9-9 turnover deadlock and get any type of groove offensively to take control of this game.
The Knights grabbed a pair of single basket leads early in the third period but Griffin Levine was newly re-energized and ready to will his team to the State finals. A pull-up jumper and then a wing triple for the Bulldogs first lead of the game left the score at 29-28. The Great Levine was not finished as he bottomed another triplastic scorcher from the deep right wing for a 32-28 lead. With Levine putting the team on his back in this third period, Covenant probably sensed the end was near on their next defensive possession. After drawing to within a basket, Daniel Chernikov finished with contact and some continuation for an AND ONE. Rubinstein then found Bell sweeping to the basket for an incredible contorting finish with 8 defensive hands on the ball as it was released. Then, for the second game in a row, Levine was mistaken for the opposing point guard on an inbounds for a momentum sealing steal that netted a pair of free throws. This time that play completed a 13-2 Bulldog explosion for a 39-30 lead. That run would simply be too much for a Covenant team who could not throw the ball in the ocean. Yavneh, now with an 8 point lead beginning the final stanza, could open up their playbook, spread the floor, and dictate the game down the stretch. Levine found Bell first wide open underneath the basket with the Knights chasing and then in the corner for a three point bomb that ended the game for all intents and purposes. 45-32 made the run 19-4 since Covenant last held a lead as the general feeling in the building was that the Yavneh Bulldogs were going to play for a state’s championship Friday morning. The Knights reeled off 4 straight points but that advance was quickly thwarted with a Chernikov to Epstein connection. Epstein got the pay off with a layup that hung on the rim for what seemed like forever and then rolled in like the entire Bulldog nation is about to roll into Abilene, Texas in less than 15 hours. Rubinstein finished the game with a passing display that included a touch pass to Chernikov and a sideline inbounds setup to Levine with no one besides court anywhere nearby. Griffin Levine continued his roll through TAPPS 3A with 22 more points to lead all scorers. A remarkable 10/13 from the free throw line further solidified how difficult it is for teams to get the ball out of his hands trailing the Bulldogs late in games. Pierce Bell added 15 points, including a pair of 5 point personal runs. Bell was fantastic at stretches in this game and was the catalyst to get a sluggish team rolling with their season, hopes, and dreams slipping away. Daniel Chernikov netted an 8 point/8 rebound effort, the biggest of which was that 3-point play that demoralized Covenant and implanted doubt into their DNA during that fateful third period. All Noah Rubinstein did was his usual little bit of everything: 11 rebounds and 7 assists to each team to go along with more important free throws, 5 points, and the Senior leadership presence needed to get one step closer to the ultimate goal.
Yavneh (31-3) will indeed play for a TAPPS 3A title Friday morning, the first in school history to cap a banner season chock full of firsts. This group has lived on the edge of their glorious season, and in the Seniors case their careers, ending for several weeks but now they have reached the end of the line. Friday morning will be the culmination of a magical 3 year Varsity journey for Epstein, Chernikov, and Rubinstein. It will also be one final opportunity for this team, led as much by its Juniors as the Seniors in many ways, to cement their awesome legacy and set the standard for what should be an exciting decade + of Bulldog hoops to come. If this team wants that legacy to end with the ultimate prize they will have to contend with Kerrville’s Our Lady of the Hills School. They have been ranked #1 to Yavneh’s #2 in 3A for much of the last half of the season. OLH is led by Division 1 NCAA Montana State bound 6″9 Senior post Luke Schultz (no relation to former Bulldog sharpshooter Zak). The game will likely become a battle of pace and be decided on Yavneh’s ability to speed up Schultz and OLH in order to utilize its depth and multi-defense/multi-scoring attack. Will the game be played in the 40s to the benefit of a squad that wants to isolate their mammoth specimen? Can the Bulldogs take one more step to the top of the mountain? How will this phenomenal season end for the 2016-17 version of the Red-And-Black?
TOMORROW WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack CTDC M&M
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