Yavneh defeated Rockwall’s Heritage Christian Academy 69-25 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to a paradisiacal 23-0 (6-0).
1050 Williams Street in Rockwall, Texas was a scary place for members of Bulldog Nation prior to Thursday. Small children in the Yavneh community would cry just at the mention of that choice piece of real estate that played host to two of the most gut-wrenching losses in recent memory. On Thursday January 18th, however, Yavneh left no doubt that the Rockwall bridge back to Dallas would be a passage with tears of joy this time around. 16 forced turnovers in the first period essentially ended this contest before it began. In a game that began with the quickest timeout in basketball history not to be forced by an actual play and ended with a variety of players having no success dislodging a basketball from the side of the rim, the Bulldogs forced the tempo all night long. Ofek Reef scored the game’s first points on a steal/dunk and Yavneh forced three turnovers for points before Heritage even recorded their first field goal attempt. Jonah Eber continued his great passing week with a diagonal strike to Pierce Bell and then a steal/assist to Reef. Griffin Levine Sr continued the early takeaway parade with back-to-back steals for 4 points in just 2.6 seconds of game action. Carson Biggerstaff did manage to score a basket for the Eagles but that would be the only points until Yavneh safely pulled in front 25-2. A third Eber assist was a laser beam to Reef, who was scoring at the rim and running over Heritage players on his direct path to the hoop. Between Bell and Reef it was a layup line to the basket while Levine and Eber were shop-lifting while assisting for nearly all the opening period of play. 16 forced turnovers, a more than double advantage in field goal %, and 21 combined points on 10/14 shooting from Bell and Reef gave the Bulldogs a 27-4 lead after a quarter of action. The first half was an absolute clinic by Yavneh in turning an opponent over and finishing in transition. Among three players with 6 assists, Junior Eli Minsky was more than willing to lend a helping hand. On one connection, Minsky found Mason Schwaber for a baseline turnaround jumper that Michael Jordan would have been proud of. Senior Sam Schultz scored a nice attack of the rim and Zach Bernstein found Tyler C Winton in the corner for a 44-7 edge. What started with Bell and Reef being set up by Levine and Eber was now a distributive Minsky feeding Schwaber on everything from post entries to out of bounds gems. Minsky’s Red Rocket cheering squad from Section 132 made the trip to Rockwall and were both loud and proud all night long. A 46-7 halftime lead for Yavneh was aided by 60-18% field goal shooting, a +7 rebounding advantage even with forcing 22 turnovers, and 17 assists on 20 made baskets. The good news for Heritage was that a comeback would have been one of the biggest ever in any sport; the worse news was that there was no way that was happening in the least.
Yavneh continued into the second half with pinpoint execution as Levine found Eber slicing to the basket for a finish that pushed the led out to 50-10. Heritage was having trouble getting good looks even when the game was reduced to a half-court contest. Reef, Levine, and Bell exploded for one more third quarter run that made the score borderline unmanageable for any Eagles comeback. Moments before the end of the third period it seemed as if Heritage stole the momentum with a 2-0 spurt that had them back to within 44 points of pay-dirt. Tyler Winton, however, reminded everyone about the middle initial C for clutch in his name with the play that sent shockwaves throughout all of Rockwall County. A dramatic leaner from halfcourt to beat the third period buzzer, scraping the backboard before dropping into the basket, re-secured a 63-16 edge and at long last sent the home fans scurrying for the exits to beat traffic. The fourth period saw Schwaber going to work on the low block with 5 field goals, many off passes from Minsky. Ofek Reef’s 20/10 double-double led all scorers with Pierce Bell adding 15 points. Mason Schwaber, like Bell, missed only a single shot in a nice 12 point performance. Griffin Levine also recorded double digits with 10 points while he, Reef, and Eli Minsky all dished out 6 assists for the Bulldogs.
Yavneh (23-0) beat all six district teams by 13+ the first time through, 4 of them away from home. While a 23-game winning streak both home and abroad, a complete dissection of two tournaments, this dominant first run through Super-District 3 of TAPPS 3A, the #2 ranked defense in DFW, and the #9 ranked offense was not enough to prevent the Jewish Hoops America Top 25 voters from dropping them a spot in favor of a NINE (9) LOSS team, the Bulldogs are in great shape for the stretch run in this amazing season. While this team may not have enough games remaining to get to nine losses, the first pair of district revenge opportunities do feature a determined Cristo Rey squad and then what one would have to think is a Covenant team due for a big game against the Red-and-Black. In a week that saw a talented Highlands team give Yavneh their best shot, it is becoming apparent that anything less than 85 points probably will not be enough against this team with a Big Three that somehow is still improving with each passing game. The emergence of a collaborative bench effort that can no longer be taken lightly has given opponents zero margin for error and a belief that the crippling run is inevitable in these games. Can this team knock out one more week to get to a cool 25-0???
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 14th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M TL-BW-SP-BR