The Home School Athletic Association defeated Yavneh 53-45 Tuesday evening. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 13-8.
Yavneh hung with a very talented Home School team for 29 minutes and change Tuesday night but eventually succumbed in a hard fought battle. The turnover story of a night ago reared its ugly head early and late, and very well did in the fortunes of the pesky Bulldogs on this night. 6 untimely turnovers including the first 3 possessions of the game put Yavneh in an early hole. It was the third consecutive quarter that the Bulldogs have yielded big opening runs resulting directly from turnovers. Yavneh’s worst fears of HSAA pounding the offensive glass became reality as the deficit was 16-8 halfway through the opening quarter. It was clear early that Yavneh was going to half to fight back with some scoring punch if they wanted to stay in the game. Even a year ago, this Bulldog group may have caved in early and gotten blown out of their own gym by 20, 30, or even more. That’s exactly what happened earlier this season another talented outfit in Van Alstyne HS. Junior scorer Erez Krengel would not allow that on this night. He calmly drilled a three pointer and immediately the feeling in the gym had changed to one of optimism. Almost instantaneously, fellow Junior Bradley Alhadef launched his own rocket ship and suddenly it was a 16-14 game. More than the score, Yavneh knew then that they could hang and that this would be a fight to the finish. Yavneh evened the game at 22-22 minutes 5 minutes into the second quarter as Krengel caught fire. Senior Sam Pulitzer, who had been on the bench in foul trouble for much of the Covenant game, was on the receiving end in this one. After taking the first of 3 charges from out of control HSAA players, opposing coach Phil Threadgill commented that Pulitzer deserved an “Oscar”. However, Drama is not on Sam’s schedule this quarter. Despite being down 26-22 at the half, Yavneh was in the game on the strength of 5/9 three point shooting. Once again, the second half started with a Yavneh opponent breaking off another big run. An 11-6 HSAA run to start the half gave them a 9 point lead, their biggest of the night. Again, it looked as if HSAA would roll to a big-time win. Krengel had other ideas. Firing two more quick threes for 6 of his 13 third quarter points, the Bulldogs were within 37-34. Two subsequent lay ups gave Krengel a personal 10 point run with Yavneh allowing just a single free throw all the while. The score was 38-38 heading to the fourth quarter with all momentum going the Bulldogs way. The streaking Krengel had 24 points but would not score again. As Pulitzer worked the low post to start the final quarter, Yavneh grabbed a 4 point lead at 42-38 and 6:35 to play. A key basket in that stretch was a slip to the basket by Senior Aviv Schor off a great Krengel feed. HSAA battled back and took the lead back at 43-42 on a free throw minutes later. Alhadef responded one more time with a tough runner in the lane and Yavneh led one more time at 44-43. Trey Tanella, an extremely talented swing man, followed with the most important 2 of his 14 team-high points to start a game-ending 10-1 HSAA run. Critical turnovers for direct points and 2 bad misses from the free throw line did the Bulldogs in during the final minute and a half. Pulitzer sank one free throw with 54 seconds left but it took the Bulldogs over 30 seconds to foul and get the ball back. By that time, all opportunity had been lost. The teams will play once again in 2 weeks, in which adjustments will be key. Will Krengel be the game-high 24 point scorer that he was for three quarters or will the HSAA clamps that halted him in the final quarter repeat themselves??
Yavneh (13-8) will look to break their 2-game slide Thursday night at home against Keene’s Chisholm Trail Academy. The teams have played to some great duels over the years, with the home team prevailing most times. That was not the case when Gavi Wolk registered Yavneh’s only quadruple-double in March of 2003.