Yavneh defeated Lucas Christian 55-30 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 18-5.
10 Yavneh players scored and overcame a tough environment wayyy out in the country Monday. In a first half that resembled more of an MMA fight at times, it was the Bulldogs who got off to the quick start. Ori Guttman drilled a wing triple as part of a 5-0 beginning. It was about that time that Yavneh started to lose control and get rattled in front of a raucous crowd that sat right on top of the court, baselines that literally hugged the gym walls, and one of the biggest Lucas Christian front lines ever that seemed to have 7 on the court at all times to the human eye. Lucas used the chaos to overwhelm the Bulldogs with an 11-2 run to grab a 4 point edge. With a trio of Yavneh starters in foul trouble the roof was caving in. Returning from his second bout with the flu, Junior David Rudomin elbowed his way into the limelight to save the day. Two enormous deep jumpers, one at the first quarter buzzer from downtown Allen calmed everyone down and surged the road team into the lead at 14-11 after a period of play. With the foul trouble growing each passing second, it was a matter of attrition to get consistent production out of anyone in a black jersey. Rudomin added some great hustle plays to his offensive explosion but spent a good deal of the second period on the bench as well courtesy of a referee-mandated vacation. Yavneh, though, showed off its tremendous depth to make a giant surge during the second quarter. Adam Steinbrecher connected on a pair of timely rhythm three point splashes to go along with some floor-burn energy. Steinbrecher’s efforts were aided by Josh Lynn’s open court steal for a layup to give the Bulldogs a 20-11 advantage. Lucas Christian could not handle the ball pressure and execution that they were playing against in that second quarter. With all the momentum now squarely on Yavneh’s side, the first half Foul A Rama barely left a mark. For the second straight game, the Guttman brothers connected with each other during a key stretch. Itai found Ori from the sideline for almost an identical layup inbounds play as last game and Ori returned the favor on the very next possession in the paint. The chippiest of first halves ended with the Bulldogs holding a 31-23 lead. Lucas Christian had to be dis-heartened with their predicament. They shot 69% from the field, were close on the boards, had almost an equivalent amount of turnovers, and shot triple the free throws as their opponents. However, even with 80% of the Yavneh starting unit admiring the bench chairs for almost all of the first 16 minutes, Lucas trailed by 8 points.
A team fortunate to be up by nearly double digits with a super fresh starting unit will usually see third period success. This night was no exception as the Bulldogs put on a defensive clinic out of halftime. Lucas would only connect on three second half field goals, including just a single basket in the third period alone. Round 2 of Rudomin vs the City of Allen seemed to spark a lackluster Adam Karnett into another gear to get the offense rolling. With a whole bag of chips on his team’s shoulders, Karnett finished a nifty reverse layup three point play to extend the lead to a game-high 38-25. He then found Adam Schor at the peak of the rim for a 15-point lead. Every basket scored was just adding to the lead because Lucas was simply not scoring. Josh Lynn found his missing stroke from the outside down the stretch connecting on a pair of three pointers but did miss his first free throw of the season. In fact, the free throw shooting by both teams left much to be desired as each team connected on just 5 makes while combining for 10/30 overall. Adam Steinbrecher finished off his stellar night with a great pick and roll finish off a feed from Sophomore Grant Prengler, who had his second straight strong game. The Bulldogs had run away with a game that so intensely was on the verge of going the complete opposite direction early on. Lynn scored a team-high 9 points but 10 different players scored. The 8 point contributions from Rudomin and Steinbrecher were absolutely huge and nearly all those points came at a pivotal time when the game was being decided. Big men Adam Schor and Itai Guttman combined for 16 tough rebounds amidst a sea of tall bodies throughout the game. Adam Karnett and Sam Kleinman were good when they had to be in limited action, and the trio of Jason Epstein, Ori Guttman, and Grant Prengler battled well on both ends of the court.
Yavneh (18-5) will be thrilled to return home Tuesday for a matchup with Avalon Public High School. The Bulldogs outlasted Avalon a season ago in the first ever meeting between the schools. It will be interesting to see how much bench momentum will be carried over from night to night after such a solid contribution by so many on Monday.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M