Yavneh defeated The Covenant School 82-29 Wednesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 20-5.
Covenant did not forget to show up to the game this time around but they probably wish they had. Adam Karnett opened with the quarter of his career, the Bulldogs went into defensive lock-down mode in the second half once again, and Yavneh utilized their fourth period cruise control feature for a third straight night. Itai Guttman nearly slapped the opening tip into the basket as Adam Karnett picked off the volley and scored nearly at the basket. In less than two short seconds Covenant had fallen behind and they would not ever recover. Similar to Tuesday, the Yavneh pressure defense overwhelmed a team right from the start. 4-0 turned into 17-5 in the blink of an eye with Karnett being the beneficiary of transition opportunity after transition opportunity. The long 1.4 mile trek to the game could have been a factor if they had walked. Even by bus, however, the Bulldogs pace caught the road team severely off guard. If your passion is watching teams turn the ball over, tonight was you Superbowl. Both teams were giving the ball away at record speed in the opening stanza. Careless pass upon careless pass by both teams made for a frenetic quarter but only one team was scoring off those charitable donations in transition. In all, Yavneh turned the ball over a mere 9 times to Covenant’s 15 in the initial eight minutes. When the dust settled, the Bulldogs held a 21-13 lead behind 16 points from Adam Karnett. Yavneh was able to calm themselves down to start the second period and took control on the scoreboard as a result. Freshman David Steinbrecher picked up right where he left off Tuesday by connecting on his first three point goal from his same corner. Big brother Adam Steinbrecher did the same from the opposite corner to follow but he called the shot off the rim, towards the ceiling, back to the other side of the rim, and IN. When Karnett found Itai Guttman for a lob on the third possession of the second quarter, the lead had reached 16 points. Covenant was wearing down and became the only team continuing to turn the ball over. Meanwhile, for a third straight night, the Bulldogs were tripling all over the place (6/12 in the first half) The 42-21 halftime advantage was a product of the points off turnovers, long distance proficiency, and a 21-10 rebounding edge.
The second half exclamation point all week for Yavneh has been the shut down defense. On this night the opponent would not score for 6 minutes and 22 seconds into the third quarter. Already trailing by 21 points at the half, Covenant did not want to combine that occurrence with another Bulldog offensive explosion. Adam Schor opened the half with a great three-point play opportunity. The best thing he could have done was miss the ensuing free throw, let Itai Guttman corral the rebound and feed Sam Kleinman for a three pointer, and then watch Kleinman steal a pass for another layup. That run was 7-0 in less than a minute and took the spirit out of Covenant at 49-21. Kleinman once again racked up the assists in a strong third quarter, including a nice pick and roll feed to Itai Guttman. Back to back three point plays with contact by Adams Schor and Steinbrecher accounted for 6 more points of the 19-0 run to start the second half. Covenant finally scored a basket with 1:38 to play in the third quarter but that was quickly equalized by an Epstein to Epstein play with Meir feeding Jason at the rim extended. Meir Epstein not only scored a career high 8 points all in the final period but also connected on three pointers to give the Bulldogs 70 and then later 80 points. Had the game gone on any longer, rumors of golden matzah tacos for his next milestone triple were starting to circulate. Adam Karnett led all scorers with 18 points after his electric beginning. Itai Guttman (courageously coming back from the injured toe) and Adam Steinbrecher also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. Eight other Bulldogs scored and Sam Kleinman tallied 8 more assists to lead the way.
Yavneh (20-5) is now indeed the seventh team in school history to win 20 games. With a daunting February schedule on the horizon, the Bulldogs seem to be peaking at just the right time. A Saturday night prime time matchup with the Gainesville Red River Rattlers is next up on the schedule. The teams have never met but this game figures to be a hotly contested war as both squads are currently playing at a very high.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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