Yavneh defeated Lakehill Preparatory School of Dallas 89-45 Wednesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 25-3 (10-0).
Jonah Eber led five players into double figures, Tyler Winton recorded his first career DOUBLE-DOUBLE, and Yavneh made a statement against the one team in district that clearly did not get their best effort the first time around last week. In what has been an absolute wild season with more depth than any team in school history, crazy offensive numbers flying around faster than some of the players can even blink, and both times of invincibility as well as times of concern in slow-paced moments, things got even crazier Wednesday. This team managed to win a game by 40+ against a district foe that just a week ago had them dead to rights down 9 points in the third quarter. AND they did it recording more steals than rebounds and shooting a better percentage from three point range than from the free throw line. Both teams began extremely slow and to think the opening minutes of this game seemed like a repeat of the sluggishness we saw a week ago would be a fair observation. Lakehill continued their dominance over the offensive glass at the outset of this contest and until a Ben Rael finish eased the tensions things were headed that way again. The Bulldogs never trailed but 2-0 and 4-0 leads became a 4-4 stalemate as the Warriors controlled the tempo very early. Jason Prager’s corner triple and Tyler C Winton’s steal for a layup got the energy flowing a bit and from there this team was a freight train headed only one direction. Mason Schwaber, who was slowed by his former school in the first meeting, was not going to allow Lakehill to get into his head in the rematch. His tip follow made the score 13-6. Of the 5 shots the 6”8 and rising Senior post missed, almost all of them resulted in his own offensive rebounds. Winton, distracted by fashion issues in the backcourt, arose from the swamp and an assist from the bench by Mo Zander-Feinstein to gallup his way into a deep straight-away trifecta. Jonah Eber lobbed a pass over the Lakehill team to Schwaber for an easy finish and an 18-8 score. Winton added an assist, his first on what would be a career passing night, for another Schwaber punishing score. Eber showcased two strong finishes in a row, one off a steal with the right hand and the other courtesy of a great feed from Avery Levy. The final tally of the opening period was a Schwaber back down that moved Kareem Zidan off the court completely, which is where the Warriors were headed in this basketball game for the first half. 26-12 was a healthy advantage off 57% shooting and 8 forced turnovers. The only finish Eber had not shown the capacity crowd was the hanging one that began Quarter #2 for 28-12. After a series of turnovers that yielded a mini 6-2 Lakehill spurt, Reece Parker found Rael for a crunching finish at the rim. Lakehill was able to slow the game in stretches and make up some ground, using a 5-0 stretch to trim the Yavneh lead to 33-23 just over halfway through the second period. But alas, that would be the final points of the half for the road team as the Bulldogs engineered a gargantuan 13-0 explosion. Eber had a big tip-follow, Winton stole, assisted and then drilled a corner three ball off a pass from Elisha Klein, and the Warriors were once again shell shocked. Eber continued his skills clinic, demonstrating a side-step to the middle of the paint dancing move not to mention a behind-the-head assist on another possession. Junior Nik Krasovitsky collected a Gimme That steal in which he ripped the ball completely out of a Lakehill dribbler’s hands at one point, capping a steal and forced turnover show (15 first half) for the home team. 46-23 would be the halftime lead as the Bulldogs have now scored 96 first half points in the two back-to-back games this week. The 13-0 ending, the forced turnovers, and a +6 on the boards versus the disaster of last game versus the Warriors all played into this healthy lead. The biggest factor, however, had to be Lakehill star player Mitchell Crow and his 0 first half points. This team was simply not going to win or compete if Crow could not score the basketball, a shocking development in this game.
Give credit to the Warriors analytics department because they must have also noticed Crow failed to score in the first 16 minutes and sent out an All-Points-Bulletin to the Lakehill locker room. After a Winton skip pass hooked Rael up with a bucket for 15 straight Yavneh points, Crow decided to turn it on. In the best single minute stretch a Bulldog opposing player has had all year, the Lakehill guard electrified his fans with a trio of three pointers from all areas of the court. That 9-0 run in no time at all cut the lead to 48-32. While Mitchell Crow was Freshman of the Year in District 2 a year ago, the vote was extremely close and questioned almost as much as the 2016 presidential election. While 3D might rhyme with HillaRY, Ben Rael’s jump shot is significantly better and he responded with a campaign of his own. He countered Crow’s three point run with back-to-back long distance hits of his own off Winton setups. The crazy five three pointers by the two rising Sophomores in the span of less than three minutes was a showcase for the future…and present of this district. On the scoreboard, though, the Warriors had made their stand and it wasn’t remotely going to be enough to change the direction of this basketball game. Winton continued to put on a passing theatrical performance with more assists to classmates Eber and Schwaber. Levy corralled a huge rebound, Tom Oster stealthily tipped out a basketball to recycle the possession again, and Prager eventually found Schwaber for a demoralizing third chance finish. Oster’s run of steals and a forced turnover on the sideline led to the end of the third period….otherwise known as SHOhayon Time. Elisha Klein began this stretch with a pair of assists to Noah Ohayon for two finishes at the rim. That 4-0 run by the Sophomore was bested by another dejavu double-vision special that followed. Hillel Baynash teamed up with his buddy to tweak the Pick-and-RollHayon on the pop. Twice Ohayon would bury the triple off pinpoint Baynash passes to complete the personal 10-0 signature run that ended the third period with Yavneh leading 72-37. Elisha Klein notched an early steal in the final quarter for a thirst quenching made layup in transition. The streaky Junior, who has been doing all the little things, can once again add finishing to his list of accomplishments and is scheduled to make the next 15 layups in succession. As we entered the fourth quarter, it only makes sense that Avery Levy found one Reece Parker for a big layup. Winton would not stop racking up the assists, feeding a determined and locked in Schwaber for points 79-82 on the night. TW3 buried another deeeep triple off a great setup from Prager as well. Krasovitsky assisted on the final basket of the night, a slicing AND-NONE finish from Oster for the 89th Bulldog points. While it should be noted that this team failed to complete no less than 5 three-point plays en route to shooting 9/26 overall from the free throw line in the two games this week, not much else went wrong on this night. Jonah Eber led all scorers with 18 points to go along with 6 rebounds and steals all while catapulting himself into the 2nd all-time Yavneh leader in assists for a career with 4 more in this game. Mason Schwaber’s 16 points, Ben Rael’s 12 points, and Noah Ohayon’s 11 continued the parade of double-figure scorers. Tyler Winton notched his first DOUBLE-DOUBLE with 13 points, 10 assists, and 5 steals in a second straight stellar game off his tour of the state of Texas. Jason Prager and Tom Oster each had 4+ steals or assists while Elisha Klein did that in both categories for the solid victory.
Yavneh (25-3) is now in good position and has clinched a playoff spot and can clinch at least a share of the district title with one more win over their final pair of games. Meanwhile, Texoma can set up a massive showdown in Sherman on Tuesday with a win over this Lakehill team Friday. The Bulldogs will have a chance to wrap up District 2 no matter what happens if they can take care of business Tuesday night. The question remains: Can this group, with all its depth and now really starting to solidify its identity, go on the road and claim the district title in convincing fashion?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 16th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack +XF M&M
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