Yavneh defeated Grandview 49-40 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 6-2.
It’s a good thing Adam Karnett is not a journalist. Avoiding more than just writers block Thursday, the talented Junior guard schooled Grandview with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals. He did everything but drive the bus home as the Bulldogs scored a win in their first true road game of the season far away from home. The team was very active early in jumping out of the gate with an 8-3 lead. Karnett found Itai Guttman at the basket on multiple occasions en route to a 10-7 opening period. Grandview out shot Yavneh 50-38% but four turnovers and a 9-4 rebounding deficit kept the home squad from the lead. After missing a quartet of three pointers, the Bulldogs finally connected from the outside as Sam Kleinman boosted his team to a 15-9 lead early in the second quarter. Karnett finished the first of his three and-1 scoring opportunities followed by a timely steal and Yavneh took command at 22-14. Holding a nine point halftime advantage, the Bulldogs knew they had let an opportunity for a third straight blowout slip away with a sluggish performance. Missing three players (journalism school trip), including high energy starter David Rudomin, the pace of the last couple games just was not there. Still, highly touted Grandview guard Stephen Stewart had been held in check and was working for everything he got.
Stewart came out strong to start the third quarter, getting himself to the free throw line and then connecting on a tough long distance triple to creep Grandview to within 24-20. The Bulldogs needed an answer on the road and Karnett was equal to the task. He finished an old-fashioned three point play, took a charge, and drilled a corner triple as the game flipped back to the black and red in a flash. The Karnett outburst stemmed the tide and restored a double-digit advantage. Senior Josh Lynn broke out of a two game slump with a three ball of his own, and although the margin was considerably less than previous games, set up yet another easy breathing final stanza. The lead would teeter between 7-10 points for the entire fourth period. The game would have been even more comfortable had it not been for shaky shot selection and untimely turnovers by the Bulldogs down the stretch. Sam Kleinman had two key assists down the stretch to Adam Schor and then Ori Guttman, followed by a fitting dagger three point play by the scorching Karnett. In addition to the Karnett outburst, Itai Guttman pitched in a 12 point/8 rebound performance and Kleinman followed with 7 points and assists to pace the team. Grandview’s Stewart led all scorers with 18 points but never quite seemed comfortable against the pressure defense. Kleinman made him work most of the night and in the end handed Grandview a nine-point defeat.
Yavneh (6-2) finally played a single-digit margin game. They will have the weekend to prepare for 5A Sunset High School. A consistently deep team that will look to play at the Bulldogs pace by choice, the DISD public school will look to tame the Yavneh 5-game winning streak that has spanned two states. Some of the best games in Bulldog history have come from this rivalry and Monday figures to be no different.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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