Yavneh defeated Mc Kinney Christian 42-36 Friday afternoon. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 2-1.
Once again, Yavneh started a game strong only to cave in during the game’s final stages. The difference was that this time their lead was just healthy enough to escape with the win. The Bulldogs did nearly everything in their power to give the game away with their 24 turnovers and 12 missed free throws. Freshman Jordan Prescott finally had the breakout game previously asked for with 15 points, including a layup off the game’s opening tip. Yavneh dominated the first quarter with tenacious defense and great passing. They held Mc Kinney to 11% shooting in that first quarter and were able to use a large rotation of players throughout the first half. The play that was most indicative of how easy things were early featured Freshman Ben Romaner freeing himself from a double team to throw a laser beam pass to Senior Captain William Zalstein for an easy bucket. Sophomore Elan Kogutt started to heat up towards the end of the first half, surging Yavneh to a 23-9 solid halftime lead. Freshman Kevin Sulski made an immediate impact with a two-handed leaping steal and subsequent assist in his first 8 seconds of action. Mc Kinney shot just 14% for the half, and this game was clearly going to be a coast to the finish. However, a different set of teams came out of the locker room for the second half. Mc Kinney’s Tom Le Blanc was suddenly the player who could get to the rim whenever he wanted. With no points for 4+ minutes to start the half, the Bulldogs saw their lead cut to just six points. The 12-4 Mc Kinney run saw Yavneh turning the ball over at will and lose the great edge in position defense that they had on the other end. All at once, freakishly similar to the Cambridge game Tuesday, Mc Kinney had sky-rocketed their shooting percentage from 14 to 30%. Had it not been for Junior Josh Karnett’s personal fourth quarter run, that same shell shocked surrendering of the lead may very well have taken place. Yavneh lead by six points heading to the final period and boosted the lead back to double digits behind two Prescott buckets. When the lead was once again sliced back to 33-27, Karnett took center stage. His three steals snatched control of the game back into Yavneh’s hands for good. The headliner was an all-out dive in which Karnett “legally” bulldozed a Mc Kinney player, then reached back to secure the ball, and finally got that ball to safety and an eight point lead. Also of note, he took a charge for the third consecutive game. The only story after that involved the drama caused by the Bulldogs plethora of missed free throws. It is flat hard to close out basketball games shooting 6/18 from the free throw line. Kogutt lead all scorers with 17 points and 7 rebounds. To win a game despite all the mistakes is somewhat impressive but clearly free throws, turnovers, and still defensive rebounding will have to improve. The Bulldogs honored both their all-time leading scorer’s anniversary date plus one of their greatest fan’s birthday with the win.
Yavneh (2-1) will play DISD’s Sunset High School on Monday evening at home. The two schools have hooked up for some memorable contests including one of the most classic last-second wins in Yavneh history. It will be quite interesting to see how this young team reacts to a public school contest.
The Kennel Report, now in its fifth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M