Yavneh defeated Lucas Christian 55-46 Thursday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 8-1.
When Sophomore Miles Pulitzer woke up Thursday morning, the last thing he was thinking about was the possibility of scoring his first points of the season later that night. Even further from his thought process was the realization that those points would be a game-winning four-point play that also registered long-time Yavneh Coach Chad Baruch’s 200th win. The Bulldogs kept rolling Thursday night while achieving two milestones along the way. Even an off night could not prevent Senior David Naxon from scoring 12 points to move into the Yavneh 1,000 point club. Yavneh got off to a quick start by pressuring the turnover-prone Lucas squad, playing their first game of the season. Yavneh’s extremely effective full court press forced 16 of 27 Lucas turnovers in the first quarter. Yavneh held only a 14-9 lead after a quarter and failed to jump on Lucas’s inability to hold on to the ball. On way more than one other occasion throughout Baruch’s 200 wins, the entire starting unit has been replaced for disciplinary reasons. Thursday night was no exception. Anticipation of that 200th win was the last thing on Baruch’s mind when he inserted a unit of 5 players who had failed to win even a Junior Varsity game this season against much less talent than Lucas Christian. However, that group played with a passion on this night in front of a large crowd. Although they relinquished the lead at 16-14 while experiencing some early jitters, Pulitzer got things rolling with the afore-mentioned three pointer that he delivered from ground level. After adding the free throw, Pulitzer and the Bulldogs would not trail again. Great inside contributions from Sophomores Micah Steinbrecher and Ethan Prescott along with safe guard play from Joe Lerer and Ilan Attar sparked a big run. Yavneh soon led by 11 at 27-16 but the lead was cut to 6 by halftime. With many in the crowd expecting to see the starters back for the second half, the second unit continued to hold the lead. They did a particularly great job of boxing out the bigger Lucas players and getting to the free throw line as a result. Yavneh was almost doubled up on the boards for the third time in four games but that second unit drew at least 6 over-the-back calls while in the game. With 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter, the starters were back and grabbed full control by the end of the third quarter. With Naxon off and the two regulars still out with injury, Freshman Elan Kogutt and always rising Sophomore Josh Karnett took things into their own hands. Kogutt led all scorers with 17 points, at times looking unstoppable with a deceptive left-handed move. Karnett provided his usual hustle on defense and poured in a couple big field goals as well. His three pointer followed by a Brad Alhadef mini-lob to Naxon ended the third quarter with a 10 point lead. There would be no fourth quarter collapse tonight. The Bulldogs coasted to the finish, playing all available players.
Yavneh (8-1) can now set its sights on their biggest game of the season to date. They will try to start their head coach on his next 200 wins and their leading scorer on his road to 2,000 points as the Bulldogs welcome highly state-ranked Lakehill Prep. Last time the two teams met, Lakehill caught Yavneh Academy on an extended Winter Break. The Bulldogs didn’t come back from that vacation until Lakehill had secured a 28 point lead early in the second half. All the current Seniors played heavy minutes in that game. This early season test could be a preliminary peek into how the Bulldogs will fare in New York come March in a Sarachek-type atmosphere.
The Kennel Report is written by Zack Pollack