Yavneh defeated Rockwall Heritage Christian 75-38 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 14-4 (2-1).
Heritage Christian was probably wondering about what happened to that porous Yavneh defense that was reported from Mc Kinney Christian just 4 short days ago. That Bulldog defense that yielded 30+ points in each half Thursday night yielded nary a point for the first 9 minutes Monday in rolling to their second district victory. Senior tri-captain Jonathan Ochstein got an early steal for a layup to start the scoring and Sophomore Griffin Levine connected on a straight-away three ball to extend the lead to 5-0 moments later. Mr First Quarter Daniel Chernikov would once again score an early basket on a tip follow but between the 5th and 7th Yavneh points came a variety of offensive miscues by both teams. The home team led 7-0 after one period of play led by suffocating defense that allowed Heritage Christian almost no good looks at the basket. The Bulldogs somehow made their 23% shooting from the field seem breathtaking in comparison to Heritage 0%. The teams combined for a cool 3/23 shooting in reminding all in attendance that it is indeed winter. Steve Levine found Chernikov at the basket to swell the shutout to 9-0 before Heritage finally connected on their first made basket with 6:42 to play in the second period. As in the Lutheran game when the offense was struggling, Junior Zach Epstein provided a much needed lift. Epstein engineered a nice feed to Sophomore Pierce Bell for a leaning baseline jumper before scoring the next 6 points himself on a pair of very different three point plays. Classmate Noah Rubinstein dished Epstein for a wing triple followed by a Sammy Weyser pass for a three point play with contact at the basket. In all, Epstein had a hand in the entire 8-0 spurt that left the margin at 17-3 and Heritage quickly losing complete contact in the game. Griffin Levine scored the next 4 Bulldog points by knifing into the line on consecutive possessions for strong finishes and a 21-7 lead. Heritage scored the final four points of the half but their 13 turnovers and 25% first half shooting could not stay in the game with even an offensively struggling Bulldog team.
The afore-mentioned offensive struggles for Yavneh would not last into the second half. Chernikov once again started the scoring with a nice finish, one that was a pleasant change up from the Rockwall block party that had been conducted throughout the first half on the east side of the gymnasium. The offense, however, really started to open up with the return of the Bulldog pinpoint inside passing game that had been absent since earlier in the season. Rubinstein dropped off a pass for Ochstein and a 31-13 lead and then another great dish to Chernikov for the AND NONE finish at the basket. In between, Steve Levine stole a ball for a touchdown as the lead reached 20+ points for the first time. The passing clinic continued as Ochstein returned the favor to Rubinstein and then jumped a Heritage pass for a finish. The Heritage Christian turnovers (32 on the night) had gotten out of control and now the Bulldogs were feasting on those errors and lighting up the transition scoreboard. Bell took a big charge and Junior Liad Guttman capped the third period with a series of deflection after deflection defensively and tons of activity on Heritage’s side of the court. On one late third period trip, Guttman played volleyball with the basketball on the rim, tipping ball after ball until finally putting one into the basket with contact. That energy finished all that was left of Heritage as the score ballooned to 51-18 on that sequence to end the third quarter. David Steinbrecher scored all 13 of his points in succession bridging the end of the third and beginning of the fourth periods. The spectacle included a three pointer and five two point field goals all in a row and over less than 3 minutes of game time. Likely the only defense that stopped Steinbrecher was the game situation and the scoreboard as the hoop seemed to look like a giant peach basket to the Senior tri-captain playing in just his third game this season. That run, however, was good enough to lead all scorers in this game. Daniel Chernikov added 10 points as did Jonathan Ochstein on perfect 4/4 shooting with 6 steals. Another Senior with a perfect shooting night was Sammy Weyser who notched 8 points. Steve Levine and Noah Rubinstein combined for 11 assists to lead the passing showcase in the second half while Liad Guttman managed 7 offensive rebounds.
Yavneh (14-4) rebounded nicely from the road loss but now will need to show consistency from game to game. Irving The Highlands will be the next visitor on Thursday night and the Bulldogs look to hit the quarter pole of district play with another stellar performance. If the defense can put back to back outings together like this one it would go a long way in restoring order to their standing in District 3.
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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