Yavneh defeated Irving The Highlands 94-72 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 22-5 (9-0).
Ofek Reef grabbed the second most rebounds in school history on his way to a 34-point/21 rebound exhibition, Jonah Eber narrowly missed a second triple-double versus The Highlands, and Yavneh won the wackiest of zany basketball games Tuesday. For just the second time this season a team scored 70+ against the Bulldogs and, without steadying post Mason Schwaber (shoulder) the game turned into nearly a 32-minute track meet. In fairness, the Blazers had scored 68 points in the first meeting and play the most frenetic style of basketball to support one of the best point guards in the state. The Bulldogs seemed lost again early in this contest very similar to their Lakehill game just 24 hours earlier. Freshman Ben Rael, who found himself in this game, scored the first Yavneh field goal off a nice pass from Reef by just hiding in the lane. Yavneh trailed 2-1 and 5-3 before a Reef drive and a baseline jumper splash hit by Tyler C Winton powered the Red-and-Black into the lead by a full basket at 7-5. Zach Bernstein BN’s generous AND-ONE finish suggested that the team had found their sea-legs but the duo of all-world point guard sharpshooter Blake Everett (28 points) and a career game from Michael Zamboni (22 points) kept Highlands afloat. Those two were simply awesome all game long and if not for what could be considered Reef’s best career game, might have been looking at a historic feat. As it was, Highlands scored 4 straight points to regain the lead at 11-10. For a game that featured a smorgasbord of offense, it would be a defensive possession that flipped the game on its axis and surged Yavneh to a lead it would not relinquish. A loud Winton rejection and then a Rael steal and save on the sideline led to a nifty pass from that same sideline moments later from Bernstein to Reef. The AND-ONE finish, just the first of several for Reef, scored the Bulldogs a 13-11 advantage that would stick. A Bernstein free throw and a Reef tip follow pushed the lead to five points, another Reef steal for a second AND-ONE made it eight points, and then in a flash a double-digit lead on an Eber to Reef connection. The first period ended on a moon shot floater off glass for Eber, who was just beginning a night of crazy off-balance buckets to wow the capacity crowd. Reef exploded for 12 points in the opening stanza as the teams combined for 16 turnovers and the Bulldogs led 23-12. The pace was electric but with that came carelessness the likes that Yavneh has stayed away from this season. Everett for Highlands picked up three fouls late in the first quarter but returned to the court out of necessity with the Bulldogs beginning to turn up the defensive intensity. The game seemed to change the instant he left the game. The Blazers took an enormous body blow when a corner triple nearly burned the net as Tom Oster buried the biggest shot of his career to date. The game looked to be getting out of hand until Yavneh went into turnover mode for nearly 2 minutes. The benevolence was on full display as Highlands danced their way to a 7-0 run during that stretch. With such a gargantuan attendance figure at this game, cell phone service was at a premium. That did not, however, scramble the signal of a T-Mobile Connection from Oster to Winton for an enormous three ball to restore order. TO was locked in for this critical sequence, also grabbing an offensive rebound that led to a one-and-one free throw for Winton. With momentum teetering towards the Blazers sideline, this burst set the Bulldogs up for one final run to end the half. With the lead crumbling to as low as 32-29 with 3:14 remaining in the half, Reef grabbed what seemed like his 100th rebound and jettisoned himself up the court for a third AND-ONE already. Rael, playing with the confidence of a sixth-year Senior, gobbled up an elephantine offensive rebound for a put-back. That just seemed to turn Rael’s lightbulb into an halogen awakening with unlimited wattage as he drained a triple from the wing. The first half would fittingly end in For-Rael fashion with a cousin to cousin hookup from Eber to the Fantastic Freshman for two more points. The 12-5 run to end the half was a youth movement to support Reef’s electric opening 16 minutes. Yavneh led 44-35 behind a ho-hum 19 points and 15 rebounds from Reef. Rael added 9 points on 4/5 shooting in his best career half but as a team the 12 turnovers kept Highlands within single digits.
The adjustments from halftime apparently were to pick up the pace of a game that was already a dizzying display of chuck-and-duck. The teams would shoot 37 three pointers in all and many of those resulted in offensive rebound put-backs as there were 33 extra possessions in this basketball game courtesy of the offensive rebound. One of those, a floater from Winton secured a 10-point lead moments into the third quarter. Rael found Reef with a nice slip pass to start a string of Ofek and more Ofek. A pull-up jumper and a score off a nice Eber feed matched the Blazers shot for shot in a game that only got faster as it progressed. The offense most definitely returned for Winton as McBuckets was active and opportunistic. His baseline jumper went in, out, and back in for a 56-42 lead and then leaped into the passing lane for an acrobatic steal. That pilfer jump started a coast to coast pass to Bernstein for the most Pelican of finishes in transition. Eber marked the tape of the highlight reel on his insane reverse follow where he levitated in mid-air..or at least a couple meters off the ground. Junior Reece Parker, available for much more than just 5 minutes in this contest, played tough-minded defense and had a determined steal that sent him on an obstacle course to the hoop earning a pair of free throws. The second-best free throw shooter on this team calmly connected on both and gave the Bulldogs a 66-50 lead, biggest to that point. Highlands stayed within contact, trailing by just 11 points heading to the final period. Reef collected his 19th rebound and found Parker for more free throws. Eber followed his unreal reverse with another twisting follow in which Highlands could only be mystified by the challenges to the laws of gravity. Everett played his best basketball in the final period, almost single-handedly willing his team back into the game. The margin would be trimmed to 71-63 on the most incredible of his three pointers but McBuckets had a TW3 answer the other way. Winton also dropped off a great helper to Eber as did Reef to Bernstein for the 7-0 sprint that put the game on ice. Eber was Feinstein-like in his ability to be everywhere on the court for an extended period of time in finishing a team off. He assisted, stole, scored, and rebounded during a fourth period flurry that totaled 19-7. Reef polished off his career night with a strong dunk and of course a setup of Nachi Zucker for midrange jumper action. The game may have finally been decided but the scouts got their money’s worth at the end. TO extended his career-high with a dramatic sequence in which he put the entire Highlands community on skates, shaking and baking his way to a fancy finish. With the crowd still buzzing from that move, Oster finished the game with a pair of free throws that used the back iron, all the rim, and then of course the backboard to improbably both find a safe haven. This game had just about everything and the headliner was a career-best in points and rebounds for THE Ofek Reef with 34 points (14/16 field goals), 21 rebounds (tied for 2nd all-time in school history), 8 assists, and even 9 gorgeous passes to Highlands/out of bounds. Jonah Eber must love The Highlands because he followed up his triple-double in the first meeting with a near-miss in his DOUBLE-DOUBLE of 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. Tyler Winton’s 13 points came with 7 steals and 5 assists, while Zach Bernstein also finished in double-figures combining with Ben Rael (career-high 9) and Tom Oster (career-high 7) for 26 more points. In the loss, Blake Everett scored 28 and Michael Zamboni 22 points for The Highlands.
Yavneh (22-5) now has a Magic number of two to clinch at least a share of a third straight district title. They will have the rest of this week to recover from this game that felt like at least a dozen basketball contests. They can clinch that share of a district title on Monday when they host Texoma Christian but no one will forget that the Eagles had this Bulldogs team on the ropes in their building earlier in the month in what was the biggest deficit for Yavneh in 2019.
The Kennel Report, now in its 15th season, is written by…
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