Yavneh defeated Mae Boyar High School of Jerusalem Israel 60-44 in the SEMIFINALS of the The Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Tournament in Baltimore, Maryland Friday. The Bulldogs season record now stands at 13-0.
YAVNEH IS BACK TO BACK TO BACK IN THE FINALS IN BALTIMORE. For the third straight year the Bulldogs have run the table ahead of the tournament championship with an impeccable 6-0 record in 3 days. For a second straight year they will look to take home the trophy and to do it will have to defeat the same Heschel team that has denied them on a fateful Saturday night before. The Bulldogs played Boyar basketball just a day earlier and were fortunate to escape with a one point victory. On this afternoon, however, Yavneh shot much better, played with more energy from start to finish, and controlled this semifinal affair. Ofek Reef began the game on the run for an immediate 2-0 lead. Instead of the combination pressure defenses, the Bulldogs used a tough man-to-man defense to rattle the Israeli marksmen. The biggest issue early, and really all day, were the boatload of Yavneh traveling violations. A 5-0 advantage quickly was answered with 5 points back from Boyar. Reef played bully-ball for a 7-5 lead and Jonah Eber hit the jackpot with a pure baseline jumper off the first great assist from Griffin Levine Sr. Yavneh led 10-5 after one period of play but it was once again the smaller lineup that opened the floor for the Bulldogs to make their pivotal run. Reef attacked the hoop for two points and then Levine found Pierce Bell for a laser corner trifecta resulting in a 17-5 edge. Tyler Winton surgically set up Levine on the very next possession for a rhythm three ball with flawless footwork. In a flash, the Bulldogs had opened the game up 20-5 and were on their way to a third straight joke of a Friday afternoon semifinal victory. Maybe the most impressive part of the first half was that with Levine and Bell saddled in foul trouble, Eber, Winton, and Sam Schultz made it so this team did not miss a beat. Eber has been an assist machine in this tournament and his lob to Reef along with the piloting of Winton’s Air Canada rainbow corner triplistic special pushed the lead to 27-11. A 13 point lead at halftime was keyed by the better energy, defense, and shooting from a day ago.
The second half did not see the Bulldogs relinquish a double digit lead and in turn this was the easiest breather of a finish all tournament long. Eber and Levine’s hustle steals set the tone for the second half, Pierce Bell finished on several occasions and had a monster blocked shot, and the Bulldogs played well when they needed it the most. Bell’s follow if his own miss was a huge play in the final period as was the stability that Reef provided all game long. He finished on nearly every chance except for the dunk that was rejected by a defender named RIM. Levine was distributing so well that he even assisted himself on a basket late in the game off three Boyar jerseys. The finishing touch on this one was Bell’s coast to coast finish off the rebound to welcome the Bulldogs to Championship Saturday. The Big Three all produced with an Ofek Reef double-double of 21 points/12 rebounds, Pierce Bell 16 points with 6 rebounds, and Griffin Levine 15 points with 6 assists. While turnovers were a serious issue for the Red-and-Black with the 125 traveling violations, it was the stellar defense of Sam Schultz that was such an underrated key to victory to go along with his first basket of the tournament on a wicked finish at the backboard. maker.
Yavneh (13-0) is back into the Finals for a fourth time in 6 years. Heschel will not be an easy out as has been well documented over the years. The only questions that remains for Saturday night at 9:30pm Eastern time: Can Yavneh finish this tournament, claim their second straight tournament title in Baltimore, and be ready to move on to the business of winning a state championship?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 14th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M TL-BW-SP-BR