Yavneh defeated Dallas Lutheran School 51-37 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 24-3 (7-1).
The rematch to the ugliest game of the season was quite the improvement and came in at a solid second place in least artistic basketball games. Shaking off the rust from not having played in a full calendar week, the Bulldogs got 25 points from Griffin Levine, 6 three pointers on 46% from distance, and just enough defense to hold off the pesky Lions. Having secured a 6th district win off a forfeit by Cristo Rey last week, Yavneh played their final regular season road game in familiar territory (5th game in less than 3 years at Lutheran) Noah Rubinstein followed his own miss to begin the contest for a 2-0 lead but those would be the only Bulldog points in the first 4 minutes. Both teams were wretched at the offensive end with turnovers, misfires of all varieties, and just overall sluggish play. Nearly 5 minutes into the opening stanza Yavneh held a 4-2 advantage on a second put-back, this one by Daniel Chernikov. Super-sub Pierce Bell brought some flow to the game for the Bulldogs with a pair of quick steals that ignited 11 straight points to cap the first period. The first Bell swipe went right to Griffin Levine for his first basket. Levine would follow that up with two straight three point hits, the first off a nice feed from Zach Epstein and then a cold-blooded turnaround corner heave courtesy of Bell’s second pilfer. For a team that at times this year has been inconsistent from the land of the three, this night was a coronation of the triples return for the Red-and-Black. Rubinstein continued the aerial attack with a medium rare rainbow trifecta on his first long distance attempt in forever. 17-4 was the Yavneh lead through one quarter of action despite a sub-par beginning offensively. The three point festival continued into the second period as Pierce Bell lasered in a line drive for 20-4. Rubinstein’s sliding takeaway Triipp-style into the first row of seats capped a tremendous Bulldog run at 16-0. This was a complete turnaround from the choppy first meeting that was a foul a second and had no offensive rhythm either way. Unfortunately, Yavneh took a wrong turn in the next 5 minutes +. Lutheran went on one of their patented 11-0 crawls over nearly 6 minutes to carve their way back into the contest. Before making any parallels of this Lutheran squad to the great Wisconsin teams that used their defense to go on similar extended defensive runs, it is important to note that the Bulldogs self-inflicted their way right back into a ballgame. 10 missed free throws and multiple errant shots from inside the paint took away sure-fire scoring opportunities stagnated the road team while Lutheran scored just enough to trim the lead to 22-15. The three ball bailed Yavneh out one last time for the first half as Levine connected on his third to secure a 25-15 halftime edge. In one of the strange oddities of this season, the Bulldogs scored on 5 three pointers but just 3 field goals of the two point variety and only 4 makes in 14 free throw attempts.
The lead would be extended on two Rubinstein plays: a steal resulting in a Levine layup and then a massive tip follow. 29-15 was trending to add protection to the Yavneh lead but Lutheran fought back with a 7-0 spurt similar to their 11-0 from earlier. The missed free throw epidemic of January 30 2017 continued as the Lions were adding points off turnovers to their successes. The Bulldogs never truly looked comfortable in either of the two games in this series. Possibly a result of the physical play from Game 1, the visitors looked uncharacteristically tentative inside the painted area for much of the night. Ironically, however, Yavneh had a long distance answer to every run Lutheran mustered. Jonah Eber found Pierce Bell for his second triple in response to the lead being trimmed to 29-22. The Bulldogs held an 8-point edge heading to the final period but the turnover bug had added to the dismay of Planet Yavneh. The only ingredient for disaster missing was the offensive rebound allowed and Lutheran found even that pass-code to begin the fourth quarter. Somehow with 7:03 remaining, the Lions had crept to within 32-26 and suddenly this game was 100% up for grabs. Levine would stem the tide with 3 consecutive free throws, a virtual miracle on this night. That opened the door for the 6-1 run that really set the tone for a Yavneh victory. Rubinstein climbed through the air for a big-time deflection and it was Levine’s diagonal pass to Zach Epstein for an AND-ONE that opened up an 11-point lead at 38-27. Epstein doesn’t shoot many layups but when he does it is usually a game changer. Chernikov and Rubinstein followed that sequence with a passing exhibition that was a true throw-back to the team of a couple weeks ago. Epstein continued the rally with a steal that opened the door for Rubinstein to throw up a mid-lane prayer that inspected the entire rim before dropping through the hoop. Lutheran would battle back to as close as 7 points with a pair of their own three balls but a third Bell steal found its way into Levine’s hands underneath the basket for a circus finish. The Lions desperation strategy was the old Mica-hack but Micah Romaner calmly reminded the Lutheran brain trust that he simply would not be missing free throws by drilling two in succession. At 48-37, the icing on the cake was a Levine AND ONE put-back and another Epstein steal alerted the crowd to drive home safely from one of the most talked-about parking lots in North America. Griffin Levine led all scorers with 25 more points on 8/11 field goal shooting (3/3 three pointers) Noah Rubinstein notched 9 points and collected 8 rebounds while Pierce Bell added 8 points of his own.
Yavneh (24-3) is in the midst of their busiest district week with 3 games. The journey continues with a pivotal rematch with Lakehill in less than 24 hours. Lakehill, still having nightmares about how to keep Daniel Chernikov in double digits after he completely controlling the game in the first match-up, is hoping that the Bulldogs let their guard down with Highlands on the horizon Thursday. The wins continue to pile up for this Yavneh team but free throws, turnovers, and efficiency at both ends of the court are now areas needing quick improvement if they are to make a run at a state title.
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack CTDC M&M
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