Yavneh defeated Rockwall Heritage Christian Academy 49-39 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 18-10 (9-3).
Noah Weiss’s book-bag seems to get heavier and heavier as he tallied another nearly flawless 17 points as Yavneh survived a miserable second half and high-stepped their way right back into Second place with a little help from their neighbors down the street. The offense has basically been Steve Levine scoring and creating opportunities for Weiss to put up monster offensive numbers of late. That trend continued throughout this game with the opening play the scripted Levine to Weiss at the basket 2-0 lead. Jonathan Ochstein drilled a baseline jumper to stretch the advantage to 4-0 three minutes into the contest despite wearing several stitched reminders of the debacle at First Baptist just a night ago. The start really could not have gone any better for the Bulldogs as they surged to an 8-0 lead halfway through the opening period. Levine drained a pair of free throws, a suddenly new concept for his team, and then once again assisted Weiss on an in-between awkward but perfect bank shot. Truth be told, Levine has been unstoppable for both first halves this week, notching 6 assists in each 16 minute segment and shooting the lights out in the process. Sophomore Noah Rubinstein found him at the wing for his fourth consecutive made three pointer dating back to Monday and this one catapulted Yavneh to a 15-4 edge. Weiss, dominant early and often, ended the first period with a business-like and just as effort-less three point play with a foul and the free throw for 18-4. In search of someone to shoot the ball amidst the Levine and Weiss clinic, Senior Zak Schultz was up to the challenge to start the second quarter. Splashing a pair of three pointers off passes from Levine and then Rubinstein, Schultz triggered the lead up to 24-8. Suddenly, no one could miss from distance. Ochstein figured all derivatives of the name Zachary were on fire so he found Zach Epstein for the corner triple that gave players with the letter Z to start their name 9 points in a row for the Bulldogs. Ochstein then hit a deep jumper of his own from just inside the arc courtesy of a Rubinstein pass as Yavneh had officially starting lighting February menorahs somewhere Rockwall, Texas. Only the first half buzzer could stop the Bulldogs string of jump shots made at 5 as Weiss threw up the old one-eye closed mid-range jumper to end the half. It was truly the best outside shooting stretch Yavneh has had season to date and the result was a 31-13 halftime lead. Shooting 54% including 4/6 from long distance, forcing 10 turnovers to only 5 committed, and getting 11 points from Weiss (5/5 shooting)/6 assists from Levine, the Bulldogs seemed to be repeating the 40 point blowout of HCA from the first meeting.
As good as they looked in the first half, the second half was a challenge. Ochstein set up David Steinbrecher in transition for a rim creeping finish for 33-16 and actually the game-high lead would come moments later as Weiss took a rare third quarter shot despite having missed only one attempt the whole week to that point. His second three-point play put the Bulldogs in full control at 36-17 but the team would only score 4 points over the next 8 minutes of game action. Daniel Chernikov followed home a stray attempt and Ochstein picked off a basketball for a touchdown but no other shots found the basket for that 8 minute time period. HCA occasionally connected on a three pointer and benefited from a flea market worth of Yavneh fouls to generate some points but they still trailed 40-28 at the end of the third period. Free throws got HCA as close as 6 points but Weiss followed his own shot for the first Bulldog points of the fourth period with just 3:07 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs had survived over 5 minutes without scoring and clutch Levine free throw shooting to close out the game never really allowed the home team to officially threaten the wire to wire Bulldog victory. A disappointing second half turned into an unexpectedly pivotal night when word came down that First Baptist had lost to one of the district bottom feeders Covenant. With four games to play the Red and Black are now back in sole possession of 2nd place and a home playoff game. Wrapping up the game that made that break stand up, Noah Weiss led all scorers with 17 points on 7/9 shooting with 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocked shots. Steve Levine once again was right there to complement him with 10 points and 7 assists, highlighted by another strong first half. Jonathan Ochstein added 8 points, played a well rounded game, and showed no ill effects of having to leave the previous game taking a header up hi-eye. Zak Schultz scored 6 points and kick-started the shooting barrage that in all likelihood secured the game back in the second period.
Yavneh (18-10) is for all intents and purposes back in the position they had hoped for to start the week regardless of how they got there. An all-important finale to the unforgiving road district schedule awaits Thursday in Ovilla, Texas. Regardless of the 35 and 40 point margins of victory from the first sets of games, these same games on the road have proved much tougher. If the Bulldogs can scratch out one more in a hostile environment they should be in good shape to seal the deal at home all of next week.
The Kennel Report, now in its eleventh season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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