First Baptist 67-57

Yavneh defeated First Baptist Academy of Dallas 67-57 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 22-4 (3-0).

Yavneh withstood a furious 16-5 run in the fourth quarter and held off First Baptist behind Senior Captain Sam Kleinman’s career-high 24 points Thursday. Kleinman was locked and loaded from the opening tip in this highly anticipated first match-up for the Bulldogs against one of the two highly touted teams in their district. He assisted on all three of the baskets that comprised a 6-3 start. A lob to Senior Adam Schor followed by streaking passes to Davids Rudomin and Steinbrecher set the tone. For as athletic as First Baptist was, Yavneh was every bit the bigger team and showed great focus on the offensive glass all night long. The score became 10-3 on a Rudomin steal that ended up as an assist to Kleinman, whose flashy no-look finish fired up both crowds. Kleinman, usually assist-crazed, was looking for his offense constantly in this game. His first three point hit ripped the cords and moments later Schor muscled in a three-point play of his own at the basket for a 16-6 double-digit advantage. FBA would end the first period on a 6-0 spurt and continued their push into the second quarter. The run reached 9-0 and the lead was cut to a single point on sharpshooting from FBA point guard Isaiah Upshaw. The Bulldogs were playing the helter skelter game that First Baptist had to play in order to have any chance against a fundamentally sound basketball team. The good news was Yavneh got to the foul bonus early. The bad news was Yavneh got to the foul bonus early. While they were not missing free throws, however, the home team was rebuilding the lead. Kleinman got a steal for a layup, Itai Guttman found brother Ori in the corner for a string music triple, and then Schor outletted a quick pass to Sophomore Jonathan Ochstein on the run for 30-23. Ochstein provided great energy on both sides of the court for a nice stretch with the basket, steal, and a pair of rebounds. Kleinman almost unconsciously deposited another three ball to complete the 13-6 response run for a 34-27 halftime lead. Both teams shot exactly 38%, each had a 13+ point scorer, and combined for 15 offensive rebounds.

The Bulldogs continued to ride the hot hand of Kleinman into the second half but it was a strong drive from David Steinbrecher that created two free throws for the first double-digit lead of the night. For the first time the game had settled in to more of a half-court at a time scenario and Yavneh was getting consecutive or more stops in a row. FBA knew they had to speed up the game again and got their wish. Adam Steinbrecher was the latest facilitator to find Kleinman for a downtown bucket and a 42-32 lead. First Baptist was undefeated in football with most of this same roster but Kleinman was still able to deliver a touchdown pass to Schor late in the third period. The lead would get trimmed to 6 points late in that third period but Sophomore Steve Levine went lefty coast to coast for a key transition momentum basket to conclude the scoring in the period. Senior Jason Epstein could not stand to watch all the offensive rebounds going to the post players. He began the final stanza with his patented offensive rebound out of a sea of bodies and was able to somehow control the ball while being thrown into the crowd. Little Big Man almost got another one moments later but his right toe grazed the baseline and negated the o-reb. Levine, meanwhile, made some critical plays down the stretch including a foul-line jumper that gave Yavneh a seemingly comfortable 50-38 lead with 6:28 to play. Moments later Schor had a monster follow to stretch the advantage even further to 54-41. It seemed to be of no consequence that Senior Captain Itai Guttman had a mere 2 points on 5 shot attempts and had been mired in foul trouble all game long. Schor was able to score enough baskets inside to keep the lead looking insurmountable until an avalanche from three point marksman Justin Lovvorn seized the day for FBA. Lovvorn used a combination of deep three pointers and near half-court trick shots to engineer a 13-2 onslaught in less than 3 minutes of game action. The last triple to cut the lead to 4 points was a step away from a back court violation and put all the momentum squarely in the FBA corner. The Bulldogs were imploding with careless turnovers and when Kendrick Mc Collum delivered a strong finish to cut the Yavneh lead to 59-57 there was only 1:07 left to be played. For all of Kleinman’s scoring on this night, it always comes back to the basics and his comfort zone in crunch time and he delivered a strike to stem the tide. Likewise, for all of Itai Guttman’s struggles, one strong rumble to the cup instantly restored a 4 point advantage with 54.6 seconds remaining. A pair of defensive stops and one more TD pass from Kleinman for the road into the hands of Steve Levine salted away the final minute. The Bulldogs had held serve against one of the top teams in their district, had survived as intense of a run that they had seen this season, and are still undefeated in district play. Sam Kleinman’s 24 points (career-best) and 8 assists were reminiscent of a certain Finals performance in Baltimore without the blood or the loss. Adam Schor had to play second fiddle with an average 16 point/17 rebound domination of the First Baptist interior.

Yavneh (22-4) can breathe for the weekend before they head to Bullard, Texas on Tuesday for this group’s biggest challenge to date. They will finally get to see first hand what all the hype is about as they tackle 3A powerhouse Brook Hill for first place in District 4. This highly anticipated match-up has been a long time coming and could be a special night for Bulldog Nation.

ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!!!!!

The Kennel Report, now in its tenth season, has been written by…

Zack Pollack

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