Yavneh defeated Irving The Highlands 65-46 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 21-2 (4-0). This was also the 18th consecutive victory for the team.
Yavneh overcame the trappiest of trap games Monday as they shook off a sluggish first half to score 41 points in the final 16 minutes and eventually run away from a 4th straight district opponent. The first couple minutes were very tense as the two teams battled inside the painted area. Highlands held leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 5-4 but Daniel Chernikov drilled a foul line jumper to get the Bulldogs on the board. Griffin Levine’s two-handed put-back tied the score at 4 apiece and then assisted Micah Romaner on the rainbow jumper that gave Yavneh its first lead of the game at 6-5. Levine’s passing was on display all night long as he notched a career-high 11 helpers. Assist #2 found Chernikov in traffic for an 8-5 advantage. The Bulldogs could have held a bigger edge early but missed several opportunities in close. The game stayed tight throughout the first period but Levine and Chernikov paved the way to a 12-7 start. Levine’s high rising floater and steal set up Chernikov on a baseline jumper to end the period. The game could have been comfortable early but Highlands limited the turnover damage to just 4 early on and the home team was hanging in with the high powered Bulldogs. The signature run, however, came to begin the second stanza. A 7-3 spurt was led by the energy of Freshman Jonah Eber who pilfered a basketball, finding Levine to subsequently feed Zach Epstein on the run. Pierce Bell then recorded an acrobatic assist falling out of bounds to Romaner for a crafty scoop finish. Then, in one of the most rhythmic and artistic shots he has taken all year, Eber canned a triple from the left wing in harmony. Suddenly, a 19-10 advantage for Yavneh looked to be all she wrote for a Highlands team that is so desperately trying to break through to the elite of District 3. This had been the moment so many times during the winning streak that the Bulldogs had stomped on an opponent and put them away at the first sign of instability. Highlands, though, responded with an epic 9-1 run to crawl within a single point at 20-19. For the first time in a long time, the Bulldogs seemed to be out of control and forcing ill-advised shots instead of preying on a wounded competitor. With less than a minute to play in the first half, a very tenuous single point margin had the Red and Black on the verge of surrendering a seemingly insurmountable lead. While by no means did the Bulldogs look polished in the first half of play, the one thing they did do was offensive rebound the heck out of the basketball. Noah Rubinstein took a while to get going but made two enormous second chances pay off to end the half. A turnaround hook finish off glass broke the Highlands run but it very well could have been the 10th Yavneh offensive rebound that truly turned the momentum back in Yavneh favor. Rubinstein swooped through the air almost like a business traveler hightailing from an airplane to the rim to beat the halftime buzzer with a tough finish off the backboard. That play staked the Bulldogs to a 24-19 lead at the break. Both teams shot poorly from long distance (2/16 combined) but feasted on the offensive glass.
Playing their first “close” second half in District play did not seem to phase Yavneh as they once again built the lead up by carrying over the momentum. Levine scored on yet another second chance opportunity, this time a wing three ball. The lead reached double digits moments later as he found Romaner for a leaning bank shot finish and a 29-19 lead. Once again Highlands would respond with a 5-0 spurt of their own to trim the lead in half. This time, however, the Bulldogs would respond with the finishing blow to Highlands hopes. An 11-0 statement by the road team would balloon the lead to an unmanageable 16 points. Bell’s work on the offensive glass would pay dividends to Chernikov inside for easy finishes. Levine connected on another three pointer and Rubinstein drove hard to the rack to earn a pair of free throws. When the Bulldogs began to execute offensively it was clear that Highlands could not keep pace. The margin stayed at 16 points on another Rubinstein follow up, this one a bouncing ball that brought him to the basket for an easy score. The final period saw Highlands try to make a push but very unsuccessfully. Their last stand was a corner three ball that snuck the home team to within 13 points. However, Eber immediately responded from his own corner to pop the lead back up to 16 points. Rubinstein set up Levine for another connection from long distance and that shot surged the lead to 19 points. The exclamation point came with 3:46 to play as Chernikov lasered a pass to a cutting Levine for a 52-34 lead that clearly was not going to be threatened again. Griffin Levine led the way with 19 points, the 11 assists, and 7 rebounds. That is the type of double-double that makes this team so difficult to account for. Daniel Chernikov followed his killer game Thursday with a nice 16 point outing on efficient 7/11 shooting. No one in the state has been better than Chernikov over the last 2 games. Noah Rubinstein’s 10 points and 9 rebounds were encouraging to see after having missed one game with the back issues brought to you in High Definition by Lutheran. Jonah Eber chipped in 8 points and was aggressive with the 4 steals. Micah Romaner’s 6 point/6 rebound effort was also key in establishing the multi-post threat against a team that could absolutely hold their own in the painted area. The passing was once again outstanding behind Levine’s 11, Pierce Bell’s 5, and 4 from Rubinstein.
Yavneh (21-2) took care of another tough road district game but they have one more ginormous one still to be played this week. They will have 2 more days to heal up and get ready for a showdown with the final player in the Big Three when they invade Rockwall’s Heritage Christian Thursday. The two teams split last year with each winning on their home floor but it should be noted that both teams are playing with more pace and this could be an instant classic. Who will get the upper hand through Round 1 of district play? Can the Bulldogs walk into the most hostile of environments and stake claim to a district that it looks for all the world is theirs for the taking?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack CTDC M&M
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