Yavneh defeated Dallas Thunder 81-66 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 23-5.
Four players scored in double-figures as Yavneh continued to use the formula of an overwhelming home beginning to tame yet another opponent Tuesday. Just 9 seconds into the contest the Bulldog players were at long last so pleasantly surprised by a the favorable sound of a whistle to complement the skin slapping. Yavneh was super active right at the start while the Thunder just seemed to be off. The road team was racking up turnovers off of shaky ball handling while the Bulldogs were running the other way in transition and scoring. An early timeout at 6-0 could have stopped the initial Yavneh run but instead Adam Karnett found a busy Adam Schor for two of his 13 first half points and an 8-0 lead. As Karnett continued to find teammates and the basket, the lead just continued to swell. At 16-0 it was questionable which of the 2 teams had played at Poetry the night before. After the Thunder finally broke the ice with a single free throw, assist guru Sam Kleinman lobbed a pass over the trap to Schor for a layup with literally no one within a parking spot of him. With 1:48 remaining in the opening stanza, the Thunder finally connected on their first field goal to slash the lead to a paltry 20-3. The opening period of complete domination was capped by a Kleinman tornado-twisting three point play for a 24-3 advantage. The Bulldogs edged the Thunder from the field by out-shooting them 66%-9%. 12 forced turnovers versus only 2 giveaways plus a big 9-4 margin on the boards explained every bit of the 21 point lead. The Thunder was a team with way too much talent and pride to be held down forever and they started to make some headway in the second period. The Bulldogs opened the door with several turnovers and missed box outs that fueled nearly all of the 18 first half points for DT. The lead reached as much as 29 points with the help of an Adam Steinbrecher three point tip-in play off a missed free throw. Yavneh secured a comfortable 40-18 advantage at halftime even with a moderate late Thunder run. Schor led all scorers with 13 points at the break. The Thunder seemed focused and energized to start the second half but the lead continued to get pumped back up behind yet another offensive rebound three-point play, this time by Adam Schor. The lead was restored to 43-18 but a Thunder 27-18 run over the next several minutes looked like a completely different opponent had arrived to play the Bulldogs. Suddenly, Yavneh seemed lost in defending countless drives to the basket, turnovers were beginning to swing in the opposite direction, and more of the offensive rebounds allowed issues from the last couple games resurfaced. A desperate team on the verge of getting embarrassed suddenly was showing why they have been so successful this year. Trailing just 61-45 with 7:12 to play, the Thunder suffered a temporary setback in their comeback efforts when their Hack-EE-Tai strategy backfired. Instead, Itai Guttman drilled 3/4 free throws over the next 50 seconds and re-established a 64-45 advantage. Having once again trimmed the lead to 15 points, the Thunder fell victims to a huge momentum play when Schor found Guttman on a nice post-to-post lob. At 74-56 with 3:37 remaining it was simply too little too late for the Dallas Thunder on this night. Scoring 48 points in the second half was impressive but Adam Karnett was able to make enough plays when needed and played a very efficient game (7/10 from the field). Adam Schor led the Bulldogs with a 19 point, 12 rebound double-double on 7/9 shooting. Karnett had 18 points and 6 assists in a very solid effort while Itai Guttman scored his 12 points on nearly perfect shooting as well (4/5) and grabbed 8 rebounds. David Rudomin’s offensive explosion of 12 points came courtesy of some great hustle play and positioning as well. Sam Kleinman dished out 8 more assists and the Steinbrechers combined for 14 points. In fact, Adam was perfect from the field (3/3) including a corner triple that seriously slowed the Thunder run in the second half.
Yavneh (23-5) looks to finish off another perfect week with a second victory over the Chant Chargers Thursday. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs outlasted Chant in a game that was close at halftime. The game will be the only bridge between the pair of meetings with Dallas Thunder. With the momentum of the furious second half run tonight and most likely returning a key player not in tonight’s game, Monday’s rematch with the Thunder could be shaping up as one of the season’s most intriguing games.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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