Yavneh defeated Lucas Christian 55-46 Thursday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 10-6.
In recent games there had been some question as to who the offensive catalyst was for the Bulldogs. Thursday, however, there was no debate. Sophomore Elan Kogutt netted a career high 34 points in soundly defeating Lucas Christian despite a second half in which Yavneh was extremely careless. The Bulldogs jumped out early on the road, scoring 8 of the game’s first 10 points. The pressure defense from the previous game was right back at it in this one, forcing 7 opening period takeaways. Lucas actually led 12-11 after a quarter mostly due to their shooting 71% from the field. They seemed much more confident at home and scored with relative ease. Yavneh’s pressure wore down LC in the second period, allowing them to build a 3 point halftime lead. Freshman Jake Greif ended yet another quarter with a buzzer-beating score, this time with a tip-in just moments before the end of the first half. On one side, LC had turned the ball over 12 times and were thankful to be within a single shot at the half. Yavneh, on the other hand, was being out-shot 52-36% and had five players with multiple fouls at the break. With the aggressive new look Bulldogs apparently came the reaching and thus an early bonus to keep LC breathing. Kogutt scored just 12 points in the opening half but came out of the locker room like gangbusters. His 14 point third quarter was highlighted with an array of mid-range jumpers and lefty finishes at the rim. The Bulldogs had built a 40-29 lead with 2:50 left in the period. Freshman Jordan Prescott and Senior William Zalstein were very active defensively and keyed the run that broke the game open with 4 steals apiece. With an 8 point lead heading to the final 8 minutes, Yavneh knew they would be challenged in a hostile environment. They did make just enough plays down the stretch to keep things somewhat comfortable. A huge defensive play by Junior Captain Miles Pulitzer gained a double digit lead but LC would claw to within 6 points at 52-46 and 2:09 remaining. With literally no offensive help for Kogutt to that point in the second half, someone needed to step up to alleviate the comeback pressure. After watching Kogutt score 22 of his team’s 24 second half points, Greif drove hard to the basket to earn a trip to the foul line. He would split two pairs of freebies in re-building the lead to 8 points. Unforced turnovers kept Lucas Christian close but Kogutt’s offense had been just a little bit too much to overcome. Greif delivered the exclamation point when he pinned a Cody Holstead layup attempt against the backboard in the final 90 seconds. The win was refreshing on a number of levels. Yavneh got a nice road win in a tough place to play with their scorer having a career game and their newly found defense on display. Zalstein came through with a great defensive game, not to mention his 7 assists to 0 turnovers. Now that is the ratio he has been seeking for quite some time. Junior posts Ethan Prescott and Micah (MW) Steinbrecher both made appearances, and each left with a defensive hustle play to their credit. Junior Captain Josh Karnett nailed a big three pointer early and of course took his 28th career charge in front of school record-holder Sam Pulitzer(47).
Yavneh (10-6) will play Mc Kinney Christian Monday night in looking for their fourth straight victory. If Kogutt and the defense return in their current form, we could be talking about a lot more than just 4 straight wins heading into early February’s Beren tournament in Houston.
The Kennel Report, now in its fifth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M