The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) defeated Yavneh 36-33 in The Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Tournament FINALS in Baltimore, Maryland Saturday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs season record to 12-3.
Yavneh has definitely seen colder temperatures outside the gymnasiums in their now 4 appearances in Baltimore, Maryland. But they picked an unfortunate time Saturday evening to have their most frigid experience on the basketball court in The Charm City. In a game that featured offensive futility for both teams, 28 minutes of hard nosed defense that gave neither team much room to breathe, a first half as strange as any you will see on the High School level, a pair of totally different second half runs, and ultimately another coin-flip ending, HANC made one more play and committed one less mistake than a red hot Bulldogs team. The game started exactly like it would play out with missed shots galore. The teams combined to miss a quick 4 shots before HANC offensive rebounded the second of a pair of missed free throws for the game’s first points. This would be a sign of a continuing problem area for Yavneh, once again being out-rebounded 34-15 and 11-3 on the offensive glass. The Bulldogs would finally get on the scoreboard with a Steve Levine layup with 2:50 remaining in the opening stanza. For the second game in a row, HANC was playing the game at their deliberate pace. With only 11 combined points in the first period, the majority of the drama came from the big man foul situation. HANC’s Yonatan Djourabchi got caught contacting Junior Daniel Chernikov twice in a short time span, promoting him to bench early in this contest. Chernikov added 3 Yavneh points off those fouls but then committed two fouls of his own in less than a minute right before the first period ended with HANC leading 6-5. Each team had 11 possessions and neither scored on many. The Bulldogs made a whole one shot from the field and really could not get anything going until Orel Gamliel lost his cool and was assessed a technical foul. That is when a game desperately in need of points became a free throw shooting contest for the second period of play. The Bulldogs closed the 8-5 gap with a single free throw on two straight possessions, and after missing a pair of critical front end 1-and-1’s on two more offensive turns, Jonathan Ochstein changed the flow with two straight freebies for a 9-8 Yavneh lead. With still only the single first period field goal, Griffin Levine lit up the scoreboard in the first half’s waning moments with a hard drive to the lane and a steal for a two hand finish at the basket for a 14-10 advantage. That 4-0 explosion staked the Bulldogs to a 14-12 lead at halftime and doubled the field goal output for the game to that point. The half was evenly played with both teams at 20% shooting while HANC was 0/8 from three point range and Yavneh 8/14 from the free throw line with two of those 6 misses being front ends that could have led to even more points.
With the race to 20 points on in full force, Junior Noah Rubinstein beat his defender to the basket with his deceptive quickness, avoiding a charge by just milli-seconds and pushing the lead quickly to 16-12 on the and none. Classmate Daniel Chernikov was back on the floor and scored a huge tip-follow for an 18-12 lead. The 4-0 start to the half had the Bulldogs looking to take control. A 5-1 HANC response tightened the game but Sophomore Micah Romaner triggered the run that looked for all the world like it would be the setup that could give Yavneh the tournament championship. Rubinstein fed him first for a cool mid-range jumper that went from Romaner’s hands to the bottom of the net. Steve Levine then bullet-ed a pass to the paint for Romaner, whose tumbling finish made the score 23-17. Before HANC could blink, Ochstein stole the inbounds pass and set up Steve Levine for a wing triple that suddenly surged Yavneh to a 26-17 lead with 2:10 to play in the third period. The 7-0 run that happened in the blink of an eye looked unrecoverable for HANC but they were able to chip a couple points off the lead before the period ended. The Bulldogs needed to continue scoring but an 11-2 HANC run in 5:51 bridging the third and fourth periods tied the score at 28-28. With 3:09 still to play, HANC had used their defense and some timely mid-range/free throw opportunities to crawl back into the game despite 0/15 three point shooting overall. Like most of the game, another offensive deadlock ensued until 1:52 remained on the clock. Steve Levine finally performed his patented theft at half-court for a galloping layup and this one could not have been bigger. The Bulldogs led 30-28 but Djourabchi responded by bulldozing his way to the basket for a tie game at 30-30 with 1:25 to go. The HANC big man would also give his team the lead on a clutch pair of 1-and-1 free throws with 45.6 seconds remaining. The fourth period included some strange and uncharacteristic sequences for Yavneh with missed layups, seemingly impossible turnovers, and some untimely missed jumpers. HANC extended their lead to 34-30 on free throws but Steve Levine gave his team one more chance with a rainbow desperation three pointer with just over a second remaining to foul. The 34-33 HANC lead became 36-33 and the Bulldogs barely got a desperation shot off at the buzzer from beyond half court that did not quite get to the rim. Steve Levine (1st Team All Tournament) led all scorers with 14 points. No other Bulldog player exceeded 5 points or had more than 4 rebounds. Noah Rubinstein also received 1st Team All Tournament honors while Griffin Levine received a 2nd Team All Tournament selection but 30% shooting, 9 missed free throws, a -19 on the boards, and 14 mostly all unforced turnovers was too much to overcome in such a low possession game in the tournament championship.
Yavneh (12-3) will be disappointed with the 1 at the end of their 6-1 record in Baltimore. The fact remains that they played a great week of basketball in a challenging environment. In 2 meetings on HANC’s terms, the Bulldogs could only escape once with a win and as such walks away with 2nd Place in the tournament. All the little details in a game that will surely mark season lows in multiple categories added up to be one combined culprit on this night in Maryland. From heartbreak, however, comes hope and this tournament should be a springboard for this team to be a force back in Texas come the start of district play in January. With prospects of a full roster for the first time all season to start 2016, the Bulldogs have already proven they can score with anyone and will be a team very much in the TAPPS 3A discussion right from the beginning. The rebounding issues will be a focus undoubtedly in the time between now and when TAPPS play begins in January along with ball security, team defense, and scoring consistency. Like the 2013 team that left Baltimore unfulfilled yet hungry and optimistic, this team has the look and feel to be ready for greatness as the calendar flips over.
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
TL-BW-SP-BR