Yavneh defeated Hill Country School of Austin 49-33 Saturday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 8-1.
Without their strong lead guard, Hill Country could ill afford to turn the ball over more than twice the amount of shots they attempted Saturday night. However, they did just that, giving Yavneh 31 extra cracks at the basketball in a runaway sequel that did not nearly live up to its billing. For the first time this season, the Bulldogs not only avoided their own turnover bug on its opening possession but actually scored!!! Junior Elan Kogutt’s free throw was about the only positive offense the star player would provide on this night. HC grabbed an early 6-3 advantage behind scoring from Justin Andrews, who scored all his team’s first quarter points and led all scorers with 18 for the game. While Kogutt struggled, Sophomore Jordan Prescott picked up the slack. A fadeaway jump shot 6 minutes into the contest surged Yavneh to the lead for good at 7-6. The Bulldogs led 12-7 after a single period, forcing 10 HC turnovers. Turnover City would continue for the group from Austin in the second eight minutes. Giveaways on their first 4 posessions allowed Yavneh to methodically build a larger lead. Turnover #19 finally yielded a double-digit lead at 20-9 with 3:00 left in the first half. At that point, HC was almost fully mentally beat and made a critical mistake the very next possession. Following yet another Bulldog deflection, Senior Captain Miles Pulitzer was allowed to pick up a rolling ball in the backcourt turning a simple turnover into a streaking layup and the end to any fight the visitors had left. When Senior Ethan Prescott punished them with his revolutionary 110 degree windmill up and under post move, the game was officially in hand. The halftime lead was 28-15 with 22 turnovers for the road team being the telling statistic. The roof caved in on HC early in the third quarter as the lead grew to 19 minutes. When they were vacationing from turning the ball over, the Austin squad was busy getting burned time and again by the Yavneh backdoor cut. On no less than 7 occasions in the second half, the Bulldogs successfully scored layups on easy backdoor routes including two consecutive by Freshman Josh Lynn. Holding a 21 point lead through three quarters, Yavneh easily coasted to the finish and was able to apply the necessary rest for a team that will play three more games this week. Jordan Prescott led the Bulldogs with 14 points and Freshman Josh Lynn added his career high 6 points. Credit much of the great start this season to the fact that Prescott and Kogutt rarely struggle during the same game. The games in which both have played well, on the other hand, have given nightmares to opposing defenses.
Yavneh (8-1) will get another crack at Thomas Jefferson Monday, this time at home. After escaping TJ by the skin of their teeth just a couple weeks ago, the Bulldogs would clearly like for this next contest to be decided prior to the 31 minute, 59 second mark.
The Kennel Report, now in its sixth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
LF 5-4