HAFTR defeated Yavneh 44-38 Friday morning to drop the Bulldogs record to 12-12.
The 2005-2006 Yavneh Bulldogs are a streaky team. They are also a fragile team. That fragility cost them dearly late in the game to give HAFTR a fortunate 44-38 win to bounce Yavneh from championship contention at the David A. Yaffee z”l Memorial Tournament. In a game of runs, HAFTR struck first taking a first quarter 10-5 lead. That lead was erased by a Yavneh 6-0 run to end the quarter behind a pair of David Naxon three point goals. HAFTR used a second quarter 7-2 run to take command 17-13 and then 25-21 at halftime. A Scott Katz three point play at the buzzer ended the first half and gave HAFTR the halftime momentum. David Naxon and Erez Krengel were able to take over in the early moments of the second half to give Yavneh back the lead at 26-25. Once again, though, a late quarter run put the Bulldogs in serious jeopardy. Their deficit was 6 at the end of three quarters. HAFTR would assume complete control at 38-28 with 6:45 to go in the game. It was time for star power, and Super Soph David Naxon was ready to roll. He led the team on a 10-0 run over the next 4 minutes, scoring 8 points. Erez Krengel’s foul line jumper with 2:52 left tied the score at 38-38. After a HAFTR timeout, the series that would decide the game would take place. Josh Abrams lost the ball after a steal and an apparent foul on HAFTR. Instead, Abrams was called for the reach in foul after losing the ball, giving HAFTR 2 points from the line. Yavneh could not regroup. Naxon and Abrams misfired on a number of desperation shots after Scott Katz provided the dagger in the form of a corner three pointer to give HAFTR a 43-38 lead with just 1:10 to go. Naxon scored 25 points for Yavneh, while Gary Stein led HAFTR with 15.
The loss takes the Bulldogs out of contention for the championship but stills gives them a shot at a winning record for the tournament. They play Houston’s Emery Weiner, whom they beat to start the season, in the final preliminary game of the tournament. Should they win, Yavneh will play in the 3rd place game on Sunday with a chance to go 3-2 for the tournament and to extend their record to 14-12 heading into the home stretch of their season. Every game is important as the Bulldogs play for their seeding in the Yeshiva University Tournament in New York come late March.