Yavneh defeated Dallas Academy 60-17 Thursday night. The win raises the Bulldogs record to 16-8.
Yavneh set the defensive tone with a shutout first quarter en route to a sound victory Thursday in which every Bulldog player scored at least a basket. The entire team seemed focus from the outset to box out and protect the defensive glass and the 32 defensive rebounds were encouraging. Single digit turnovers for the first time in seemingly forever combined with the rebounding and defensive effort to easily dispatch Dallas Academy once again.
The Bulldogs came out with an urgency that has been missing during their last 8 games. Embattled superstar Senior Elan Kogutt looked great from the opening minute connecting on the first four points in a row. In fact, Yavneh had blasted their way to an 11-0 lead in less than two and a half minutes of play. The Frenetic Freshman Itai Guttman combined with Kogutt and a Kevin Sulski deep ball out of nowhere to steal the show early. As Yavneh’s defense was airtight throughout the game, their offense let them after the 11-0 start. Neither team scored a single point for the 7 minute, 20 second stretch that followed. During that stretch the first period ended at 11-0 with Yavneh out-shooting DA 25% to 0% and allowing not a single second chance point!! The Bulldogs gave up their first points almost three minutes into the second period. A key sequence that served as the backbreaking moments for DA came with 1:31 to play in the first half. Kogutt slipped a pass to Guttman for a layup with the foul that on any other night would have been a turnover. Off the subsequent missed free throw, Guttman frenetically ran his own rebounding/passing drill using the backboard before finally finishing the fourth attempt to complete the 4-point play. Moments later the halftime buzzer halted a 24-7 Yavneh lead and they would never look back. Just like Pegues of Oakridge outscored the opposition in the first half Tuesday, Guttman did it on this night 8-7. The teams combined for 42 first half rebounds and that was because of horrid offense on both sides. Despite the big lead, the Bulldogs missed on several easy opportunities right at the rim.
As poor as Yavneh shot in the first 16 minutes, they rarely misfired in the second half. Going deep into their bench for the majority of the final two periods, the Bulldogs were getting unexpected points from all over the place. After connecting on a pair of triples, Sophomore Josh H Lynn wandered far, far away from home and connected on a nifty reverse layup. Junior Jake Greif followed up his great pump fake move from the last game with another and Senior Zev Klein scored on a great cut to the basket. Junior Ben Romaner notched two nice assists from the high post, including one to Senior Shimi Wolk for a three point play at the rim. But the fourth quarter belonged to Freshmen Sam Kleinman and Adam Steinbrecher. Kleinman dished out 5 assists, most to Steinbrecher, who was busy beating his cumulative career point total in one period of play. He scored inside on a floater, outside with two three pointers, and even got to the basket a couple of times. The 5/6 shooting performance was good for a game-high 12 points. Kogutt and sizzling Junior sensation Jordan Prescott barely broke a sweat in 21 combined minutes but the collaborative team effort was a refreshing end to a rigorous month of January.
Yavneh (16-8) will play at Lucas Christian Tuesday evening. The teams have not played in a couple years but the series will always be remembered for the last second Erez Krengel buzzer-beating shot that permanently earned him the ICE name that he has been known by ever since. As the calendar flips to February, the Bulldogs must hit their stride and they are in position to do so. Prescott is going well, Kogutt seems rejuvenated and hungry, the trio of bigs are improving with every passing game, and the army of guards are starting to impact every game. Will all the components come together in time for this team to make a serious run in New York come late March? Only time will tell!!
The Kennel Report, now in its seventh season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
MWJR? 3-21