Yavneh defeated McKinney Christian 58-49 Monday night in OVERTIME. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 17-7 (5-4).
McKinney Christian was fighting an uphill battle with history Monday as they attempted to sweep Yavneh and triple their all-time wins in a series they now trail 15-2. Coupled with the fact that no team without Trinity Christian written on their jerseys has won on the Bulldogs’ home court ever in TAPPS 3A district play, the Mustangs had a tall task that would require ball security that they simply did not have in their arsenal. Yavneh looked like a team angry about their loss to McKinney earlier this season in building an immediate 8-0 lead in this contest. Griffin Levine dished assists to Noah Rubinstein and David Steinbrecher, Steve Levine finished in transition, and Jonathan Ochstein tip-followed a missed shot while floating in mid air to account for the huge start. Just a quickly, however, the Bulldog inconsistency reared its ugly head and yielded 6 quick points right back. Steve Levine nailed a three pointer from the corner and tortured the Mustangs for what seemed like the 46th time in a month with a steal for an uncontested layup. Pierce Bell’s wing jumper actually secured a game-high 9 point advantage at 19-10 and he truly rang the Bell at the bell with a look what I found room service follow up to end the first period 21-12. The Bulldogs forced 6 turnovers and were well on their way to a blowout victory. The defensive issues that Yavneh had against this squad (30+ points allowed in 3 consecutive halves) continued to begin the second period. In one of the biggest opponent runs all season, McKinney completely turned around the game with 13 straight points to begin the second quarter. An 18-4 run in which Ochstein provided the only pair of baskets on much needed power finishes left the Mustangs with a now 5 point advantage and shocked Bulldog Nation. Eerily to the first meeting, though, McKinney Christian seemed to be in control of the game only to crater at the end of the first half to give Yavneh a slight lead that seemed unlikely. This time, Steve Levine found Zach Epstein in the corner for a pair of identical three point connections to cut the lead to a single point. Levine beat the halftime buzzer with another three ball from the opposite side to somehow give the home team a 36-34 halftime edge against all odds. That shot was the 4th buzzer beater in just 6 quarters of play for Yavneh against the Mustangs this season, who trailed despite an 8% shooting advantage, an 8 rebound advantage, and a 5-0 shutout in free throw attempts. The heroic offensive performances of Ochstein and Epstein kept the Bulldogs afloat in what could have been a disastrous quarter and afforded their team to press the reset button on this contest…with a slight edge.
Noah Rubinstein connected on a pair of free throws (first attempts of the night for Yavneh) and McKinney answered with a layup in what started as a fast paced third quarter. Holding the 38-36 lead, the Bulldogs used their second possession to chew up the final 7:06 of the period. It was the third time in school history a team held the ball for 5+ minutes (all ended up being wins) and among other things such as boost business at the concession stands, bought new life for those in serious foul trouble. The Bulldogs were unable to score on the double possessions bridging the third and fourth periods that resulted from this strategy and actually missed three close-in layups resulting in 4 McKinney points for a 40-38 lead with suddenly 6:50 to play in the game. The Mustangs were victimized multiple times by timely David Steinbrecher scores down the stretch. Steinbrecher’s three pointer from the top hung on the lip of the rim before sneaking into the basket to surge Yavneh back into a 41-40 lead. The flight of that basketball was similar to the McKinney Christian chances of a sweep, bouncing the wrong way in what would be several of their 19 turnovers to come late in this game. Steve Levine followed in his own miss and Griffin Levine found Rubinstein who dribbled his way to the basket for a strong finish. The now 45-40 lead for the Bulldogs courtesy of a 7-0 spurt seemed like a game changer with 4:53 remaining. The Mustangs responded again with 5 straight just at the moment it seemed like Yavneh could put the game away with 1-2 stops at the defensive end. Another extended possession for the Bulldogs ended in an errant shot but Steinbrecher’s Superman rebound and subsequent put-back gave the Bulldogs a 47-45 lead with 2:01 to go. It was as if Steinbrecher had flown in from the rafters and saved the day but despite an Ochstein steal at the other end, Yavneh could not capitalize and the Mustangs found another seem in the paint to tie the score at 47-47. Turnovers and poor shot selection for both teams, culminating with a final shot by the least likely McKinney player to make a shot outside of 3 feet heaving a desperation triple, kept the game deadlocked at 47 apiece to end regulation.
The extra frame saw the bulk of the Mustangs key turnovers change the complexion of the game. Ochstein got a monster steal that led to a Griffin Levine free throw and then connected on a pair of his own freebies to build back a 50-47 advantage. Steinbrecher made two more massive plays beginning with a take-away where he literally snatched the ball right out of the hands of a Mustang player. Leading 50-47 with less than 2 minutes to play in the overtime period, the veteran combination known simply to their fans as Ochsteinbrecher struck for the dagger. For all of McKinney’s carelessness with the ball, it was the corner three ball from Steinbrecher with 1:45 off Ochstein’s setup that sent one final message that the sweep was not in the cards. The Bulldogs did have to survive one final onslaught in which the Mustangs missed 6 shots all in succession from close-in with only the Yavneh possession arrow able to secure a game-clinching defensive rebound at long last. Rubinstein drilled two close-out free throws and McKinney was officially out of gas…and turnovers. Steve Levine led all scorers with 14 points and 6 assists while Ochsteinbrecher scored 10 points each. Jonathan Ochstein added 6 rebounds and 3 of the most timely steals of the night. David Steinbrecher made clutch play upon clutch play to go along with 5 enormous rebounds. Noah Rubinstein’s 4/5 from the free throw line (8 points total), Zach Epstein’s two three pointers, Griffin Levine’s 5 assists (6 points), and the two Pierce Bell field goals were all needed just to get the game into the overtime period.
Yavneh (17-7) now carries some serious momentum with them to Rockwall for a game that could leap right back into a virtual tie for third place in District 3. A three game district winning streak for the first time this season would also be encouraging and go a long way to establishing that elusive consistency that has been lacking. In wins over Lutheran and McKinney Christian there have surely been moments of greatness but those moments have been fleeting. Can this group put it all together and start a memorable district run with this success?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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