Yavneh defeated THESA 57-53 Tuesday evening. The loss snaps a short 3 game slide and improves their record to 14-9.
Third time was the charm for the Bulldogs as a third straight game came down to the final minutes. The previous two contests were lost due to lack of execution in those final minutes while this one featured a bloodied junior post making the biggest play of his career to date. For the third consecutive game, Senior post Sam Pulitzer dominated the first quarter. Almost unbelievably, Pulitzer bested his previous first quarter with 11 points. Yavneh was once again able to score at will on an opponent early vs. the man-to-man defense. THESA, a tall and lanky home school academy, controlled the boards early and often, out-rebounding the Bulldogs 8-3 in the opening stanza. Yavneh held a 17-14 lead at that point but of immediate concern was star outside gunslinger Erez Krengel, who was scoreless and saddled with 2 early fouls. THESA would grab their first lead at 21-18 but Pulitzer, who hit two big first half three pointers, steadied the Yavneh offense with a huge first half. Krengel returned to the game and showed signs of life with a big trifecta to close out the first half. Yavneh led 29-25 at halftime, shooting 54%. Pulitzer had 15 points on 6/8 shooting and 2 three pointers. THESA doubled up the Bulldogs on the glass, controlling the rebounding 14-7. Krengel had only 6 first half points but fortunes were about to change. As has become customary for Yavneh, they failed to score for almost the first three minutes of the third quarter. Yavneh maintained a 4 point lead on the strength of Junior Bradley Alhadef’s free throw and a gorgeous Michael San Soucie lay up. While San Soucie wasn’t nearly finished, THESA shooter Stephen Singleton scored 6 of his 8 points in about thirty seconds to capture the lead back at 34-32 almost instantaneously. The lead would swing back to Yavneh on an Alhadef lay-up and an alleyoop lay-in to Senior Aviv Schor. Yavneh trailed 39-37 after three quarters but could have been much worse. The Krengel/Pulitzer combination that has produced so many points this season drummed up just a single free throw in the third quarter. When Abe Williams ripped through 3 of his team-high 12 points for THESA to start the fourth quarter, a four game losing streak looked imminent at 42-37. Every season has one to several turning points and this was probably ExhibitA for Yavneh. Alhadef found Krengel streaking to the basket, still mired with only 6 points. Krengel scored the hoop, ingested the foul, and watched in amazement as THESA’s Williams threw the ball down the hallway in disgust. A technical foul was assessed, and even though Krengel made just 1/3 free throws that followed, the Bulldogs seemed to have the momentum that they needed to jumpstart things. Krengel followed with a clutch three ball and the lead was suddenly Yavneh’s at 43-42. The 6 point possession was so eerily familiar to the 8 point possession the Bulldogs benefited from in Itzy Ribald’s 59 point effort vs. Hyman Brand 4 years ago. THESA would answer with a three pointer and a lay up as the game swung back and forth in the fourth quarter. Alhadef scored and continued to find Krengel, who continued to drill three pointers. With the game tied at 48-48 and 2:17 to play Krengel broke a string of empty possessions with a dagger three pointer. Trying to run out the clock was no easy task for the Bulldogs with a three point lead. Alhadef, who had a monster 8 assist game, threw an errant pass that was returned for a THESA lay up and suddenly the score was just 51-50 and still over a minute to play. Krengel drove hard to the rack and gave Yavneh a 53-50 edge. After a defensive stop, the game looked clinched after Krengel scored on a backdoor cut to give the Bulldogs a commanding 55-50 lead with 40 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, however, no one boxed out big Tyler Ramos. He elevated and scored, cutting the lead to 55-53 with the free throw resulting from the subsequent foul that occurred. Krengel, who had been so huge in the final quarter with 17 points himself committed a horrendous turnover that gave THESA a fighting chance down just 55-53 with 30 seconds left. Off the turnover, only one Yavneh player had a shot at stopping the fast break basket and the eventual tie. With blood dripping down the back of his embroidered Yavneh home jersey, Junior Michael San Soucie stepped in and took the charge of the year. Alhadef and Krengel would each hit a free throw to secure the 57-53 win but the game was clearly won on the San Soucie sacrifice. Krengel finished with 23 points (including 17 of 20 fourth quarter Bulldog points) while Pulitzer ended up with 16.
Yavneh (14-9) will play Coram Deo Thursday night. Coram Deo crushed Yavneh last season in the SR Center and will be prime targets for revenge.