McKinney Christian defeated Yavneh 56-39 Thursday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 3-1.
For the fourth straight time a Yavneh game was won by the team who played better in transition, forced more turnovers, and who played with more energy. In a week where “shocking” seemed to be uttered more often than “hello” it was indeed surprising that the Bulldogs were not that team. Losing essentially every measurable statistical category, Yavneh started slow and just never seemed to recover. A chilly 2/19 from three point range was only part of a script that included losing the turnover, rebounding, shooting, scoring, and free throw game as well. Daniel Chernikov scored the first points of the game mere seconds into the contest and fellow Senior tri-captain Noah Rubinstein finished a corkscrew quint-clutch finger roll to stake the Bulldogs to a 4-3 advantage. The game, however, turned on the ensuing possession in which McKinney Christian took a lead that they would never relinquish. In one of the most costly single possessions that can be in the first period of a high school basketball game, Yavneh was called for three fouls and yielded an additional 5 offensive rebounds. The Adrian Hydock three pointer that capped all of that only gave the Mustangs a 6-4 lead but caused irreparable damage creating foul trouble and was a clear change agent in this contest. Rubinstein would trim the advantage to a single point on a nice steal for a score at 9-8 but McKinney reeled off 6 points in a row to end the first quarter. The last bucket of that run was a second chance finish in which the closest Bulldog defender/rebounder was in a different time zone. The little things that Yavneh had done so well the first trio of games was suddenly escaping them. More than anything it was the horrendous shot selection and chucking of low percentage shots that was most concerning. Careless turnovers built the home team a 16-8 edge early in the second period. Senior Liad Guttman found Rubinstein for an AND ONE finish to trim the margin to 5 points and then Zach Epstein drilled one of two made triples for the team on the night. A small stretch in the middle of the second quarter may have been the best offensive moments for Yavneh all night with Guttman also tip-following another errant shot. Sadly, though, the Mustangs were running those makes right back down the court for easy transition hoops. This flipping of the script was difficult to understand for a team that through three games did exactly this to their opponents. The points for McKinney came in waves and another 6-0 spurt put the Bulldogs in an 11-point hole. Chernikov would connect on a jumper and Guttman’s acrobatic twisting finish at the rim off an Epstein steal minimized the damage to 27-20 for halftime. The foul trouble, shot selection, and lack of transition defense equated to what could have been a much bigger deficit than the 7 points but that margin would grow.
An eventful start to the third period seemed like a slight opening for Yavneh as they crept to within 3 points of a tie at 27-24. For a brief moment they were able to turn over the Mustangs and create some much needed energy but really could never start opposing star player Blake Hartline. Hartline’s 30 points were mostly easy transition layups and a ton of late free throws. He had it all working on this night while the Bulldogs could do nothing right. A critical 9-1 McKinney run pushed the lead back out to 11 points midway through the third period and this time would never look back. When the visitors tried to run they turned the ball over; when they tried to shoot their way back into the game they connected on just a single of their 17 three point attempts to that point. Chernikov and Pierce Bell connected on several shots from the outside throughout the final quarter but by that time the lead had grown to 16 points and was being kept afloat by bonus free throws McKinney shot for the entire final period. There was never any life or momentum coming from the Bulldog side after those brief moments to begin the third period. Outshot, out-rebounded, out-ran, and simply outplayed, the Bulldogs could hardly recognize a dazed squad that stumbled to the finish line Thursday. Noah Rubinstein did lead the way with an 11 point/11 rebound double-double, his first of the year. Daniel Chernikov also reached double figures with 10 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Energy players Pierce Bell and Liad Guttman combined for another 10 points but those four players just barely out-scored Hartline alone. Also of note, Freshman Jonah Eber took a charge for the second straight game.
Yavneh (3-1) may have fallen short in their first road test but the good and bad news is that they will play two more in the next 120 hours. Starting with SPC mainstay The Oakridge School the Bulldogs will have a great chance to get an even better road victory than the one they let slip through their fingers Thursday. The two teams played an epic game a year ago for three quarters before Oakridge pulled away to win late but this series goes back to the days of would-be future Iowa State star player Chris Babb. Yavneh will look to get back on track after a contest that has fluke loss written all over it.
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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