Yavneh defeated Lutheran 58-51 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 14-4.
Finally back at full strength, Yavneh continued to reap the benefits of having a deep team Tuesday. With 2/3 of its main scoring trio struggling, Junior Jordan Prescott sizzled for 21 points, dished out 8 assists, and got help from a clearly determined Frenetic Freshman who produced double figures in “15” limited but jaw dropping minutes in his return.
The Bulldogs passing display was evident from the opening minutes as Junior Kevin Sulski found Senior Jake Greif on a nice feed for an early 6-3 lead. Junior Ben Romaner pushed the lead to 9 points with some hard work on the offensive glass that actually benefited Yavneh for a change. Both teams would be abused on the offensive glass throughout the game, combining for 26 offensive rebounds allowed. The Bulldogs held a 16-7 lead after the opening stanza, out-shooting Lutheran 38-16%. The margin would have been close to 20 had it not been for the Lutheran persistence on the offensive glass and a horrible first half from scoring threats Elan Kogutt and Adam Karnett. Prescott, however, was busy having his strongest half of the season. Bouncing back from an awful turnover game last Friday, Prescott scored 11 first half points and assisted on three identical laser-beam finds of Freshman Itai Guttman right at the basket. Guttman was getting lonely with no defender remotely close to him time and again after Prescott broke down the defense. The Bulldogs maintained a 29-22 halftime lead capped off by another Romaner basket, this time off a two-step feed from Senior Shimi Wolk.
While Kogutt and Karnett were still MIA for most of the second half, the third quarter and this night belonged to Jordan Prescott. Two early third quarter triples pushed the lead into double digits but Lutheran mounted their one and only run with a 5-0 spurt to leave the game at 38-33. Guttman then canned a runner that started the 7-0 Yavneh response that would put the game away. Kogutt followed with a transition finish and Sophomore Josh Lynn completed the run with a corner three pointer for a 12 point advantage. The lead got chiseled to 8 points on a couple of occasions but no grave danger ever beset the Bulldogs rest of the way.
The most encouraging sign for the Bulldogs on Tuesday was how key players could mightily struggle on the road in a tough environment, yet coast to victory behind the depth of the unit as a whole. It is truly evidence that beating this team is just not as simple as stopping one or two players any longer. Prescott led all scorers with 21 points and 8 assists, Kogutt netted 15 points on what clearly was not his best night, and Guttman tallied 10 points and 6 timely rebounds. Never able to get it going in the scoring column, Karnett chipped in with 9 rebounds and Sulski gritted his way to a 6-steal game.
With indeed a new winning streak started to kick off 2011, the road trip continues Thursday with a killer contest. Yavneh (14-4) plays at Arlington’s Oakridge School in less than 48 hours. When the two schools last met the Bulldogs got the short end of the star-studded matchup featuring current Penn State standout Chris Babb against Naxon, Krengel, Alhadef and company. Babb likely is anticipating this rematch a little bit less than Naxon, Krengel, and Alhadef combined which could bode well for a Tarrant County shocker.
Only time will tell!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its seventh season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
MWJR? 3-9