Yavneh defeated Lucas Christian Academy 61-42 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 25-4 (5-0).
Yavneh clinched the quarter pole to 100 wins Monday with a sleep-walking jog through Lucas Christian. The Bulldogs took the first minute+ completely off in spotting the visitors a quick 4-0 lead. This actually marked the first time in forever that someone besides the Red and Black scored first in a game. In what would be a developing theme on this night Lucas built their 4-0 edge off of a pair of second chance buckets. Senior Captain Sam Kleinman found classmate David Rudomin on the next possession for a slick back-handed inside finish for the first Yavneh points. Rudomin made the small comeback a personal thing with a steal that led to his own three ball to get the 5-4 edge nearly 2 minutes into the contest. A 4-0 Lucas response indicated that the threat was not quite over but Itai Guttman used his own layup drill over the next 97 seconds to secure control of the game. Kleinman assisted on a pair of those inside finishes but Guttman was not only helping in the scoring column. He subsequently found his newly inserted brother Ori for a wing triple and then Rudomin once again on a great full-court outlet for 17-11. The Bulldogs 12-3 run saw Itai Guttman involved in every point and solidified the 6 point lead after one period of play. Kleinman drained a rhythm triple off a perfect shoulder to shoulder curl for a 22-15 advantage and then found Junior Noah Weiss at the basket moments later. The lead grew to double-digits with an Ori Guttman around-the-world dribble to the hoop and a patented Adam Schor tip-follow. A nice sequence from Sophomore Jonathan Ochstein featured a pair of rebounds and a perfect baseline jumper off a Weiss feed. When Kleinman lobbed to Itai Guttman well above the rim and stole a pass for a breakaway TD, the margin had catapulted to 15 points pending the extra point. Yavneh held an 11 point lead at halftime but easily could have been up by 20+. Just a trio of turnovers was good but allowed 6 points on direct offensive rebounds by Lucas and another 7 points on three missed defensive assignments.
Previously in court but not on the court, Senior Jason Epstein provided some great energy to start the second half. He found Kleinman for a three pointer after going halfway the wrong direction but nevertheless a back-breaking play for Lucas Christian. Rudomin finished a pair of transition layups to complete a 10-0 explosion by the Bulldogs to kick off the third period. The lead was well into the 20s when Sophomore Steve Levine got fiercely shoved into a great assist to Adam Schor in the lane. Lucas really could not get much going in the second half that they were not being handed on a silver platter. The home team continued to gift them second, third, and fourth chance opportunities and logically began a fouling marathon with a 20 point lead to drag out the inevitable. Lucas could not slow down the Yavneh offense enough to make all of that translate to any kind of a formative run. Ochstein found David Steinbrecher for a rhythm three pointer and then rumbled down the lane on a look-what-I-found play just when Lucas had a chance to slice the lead. The advantage never got much higher than 20-23 points but never got back down to 15 either. The biggest threat in the final period was an 8-2 run that diced the lead to 16 points but Junior Grant Prengler thwarted any further damage with a thunderous charge-take in which no less than 7 people ran him over. Junior Lee Gelsky fed Ochstein for a driving layup that almost finished at the basket and soon after Junior Zak Schultz connected from long range to once again solidify a 20+ point lead at 59-38. The lack of any semblance of a box out and the continued unnecessary fouling kept the game from getting way out of hand but there was never a serious challenge in the second half from Lucas Christian. Sam Kleinman and David Rudomin led the way with a combined 25 points, Kleinman also notched 7 assists, and Itai Guttman added 9 points courtesy of his strong first period. He and Adam Schor, however, combined for a season-low 4 rebounds which told the story of many of Monday’s struggles. The efficient contributions of Jonathan Ochstein and Ori Guttman (13 points combined) helped to round out a strong 61 point offensive performance.
Yavneh (25-4) returns to District play after the one game vacation for a second match-up with all teams. Up first is Dallas Lutheran who was also the Bulldogs first victim January 9th. With the element surprise no longer in play, it will be interesting to see which team makes the better adjustments come Tuesday evening.
The Kennel Report, now in its tenth season, has been written by…
Zack Pollack
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