McKinney Christian 61-62

Mc Kinney Christian defeated Yavneh 62-61 Thursday night. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 13-4 (1-1).

Yavneh could not overcome once again playing only one side of the ball, starting horrendously slow in both halves of basketball, and conceding 29 points to Jamie Greenwell Thursday in losing to Mc Kinney Christian for just the 2nd time in 16 meetings. For the second straight game, Junior Daniel Chernikov started hot in the first period with a quick post move for a 2-0 lead. Defensive issues, however, were apparent early as Mc Kinney Christian seemed to get to the basket at will. After Chernikov notched 4 points, the Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run on easy rim runs and point blank finishes. Griffin Levine finished a nice lefty scoop but otherwise the easy opportunities were not converted by the Bulldogs and their counterparts benefited with a 16-8 first period edge. Missed layups and zero defensive resistance were serious causes for concern. Second quarter foul trouble, which seems to be par for the course thus far in district play, once again started to take its toll. Chernikov continued to dominate with 12 first half points on 6 Steve Levine assists but every one of their connections seemed to be followed by a defensive lapse at the other end. Steve Levine finished two timely curl layups with the second one completing a three point play. Jonathan Ochstein’s foul line jumper kept the game close but 13 first half free throws for Mc Kinney along with more porous defense prevented the Bulldogs from ever getting the much needed defensive stop in the half-court. Sophomore Pierce Bell recorded a steal and flipped a scoop shot of his own into the basket t trim the deficit to 2 points but that was as close as the game got until the final moments of the first half. Trailing 30-25, Yavneh needed a spark from their energizing team leader and they got just that. Steve Levine stunned an entire city with his jump shot, steal for a layup, steal, and then buzzer beating jump shot all at once for the 6-0 finish to the first half of play. Somehow the Bulldogs led 31-30 at the half behind that stunning last 40 seconds but all the makeup and cologne in the world could not cover up the defensive issues on this night that were not hitting the highway just yet.

Instead of building on the momentum, the Bulldogs gifted it all back and then some in a disastrous first 102 seconds of the third period. 5 Yavneh turnovers in less than two minutes kick-started a Mc Kinney 8-0 run for a 38-31 advantage. If there was a moment when the Bulldogs realized that this may not be their night, it was probably immediately following the run stopping lefty finish by Noah Rubinstein that cut the lead to 5 points at 38-33. The Mustang response was an accidentally banked triple that continued the theme of auto-response to nearly every Yavneh basket. Rubinstein’s tip follow and the first David Steinbrecher three pointer of the night trimmed the lead back down to 5 points but just as quickly a 7-0 response gave Mc Kinney their biggest margin of the night at 50-38. Simply put, Yavneh just could not get stops when they needed them outside of the occasional trapping pressure turning the Mustangs over in the front-court. Another flurry to end a period was needed with the game teetering on the brink and this time the Bulldog onslaught came courtesy of the long distance dedications. Steve Levine’s layup was followed by a steal that led to Steinbrecher’s wing triple and another quick theft found Junior Zach Epstein open in the same exact spot for three more points. The threes were the theme as a third straight steal netted a pair of Griffin Levine free throws that miraculously tied the game at 50-50. To have two back-to-back periods end in such high drama should have been enough to swing the game in Yavneh’s favor but the defense simply would not allow it. Mc Kinney Christian bookended the third and fourth periods with 4 points to regain the lead at 54-50 early in the final stanza. Rubinstein finally got the benefit of a block/charge call after previously being victimized countless times on this very court and then made a nice feed to Steinbrecher for another three pointer, this one from the corner. The spurt became 5 straight points when Griffin Levine soared down the middle and to the basket for a 55-54 Bulldog lead. The one big stop would continue to elude the visitors as Mc Kinney Christian took all of about 10 seconds to deposit another wide open layup and regain the lead at 56-55 with 5:18 to play. After Steve Levine tied the score with a single free throw, the teams would trade baskets with Chernikov making his patented high post jumper for 58-58. The first team to hit 60 points was the home team as they strategically bricked a pair of free throws and gobbled up the second miss for an easy follow for 60-58. Chernikov cut the edge in half with another single free throw and the Mustangs had the ball with a 60-59 advantage with 55.2 seconds to play. Nearly a 30 second possession finally went Yavneh’s way as Steve Levine picked off an errant pass with 26.5 seconds left and was fouled. The pair of free throws surged the Bulldogs into the lead at 61-60 but again one large defensive stand was needed. One final whistle sent Greenwell to the free throw line for his 16th and 17th attempts of the game and to his credit neither touched much of the rim in securing a late 62-61 edge for Mc Kinney. Whether by foul or by missed assignment, the Bulldog defense let down all night long and this final dagger left the visitors one final desperation heave which was not nearly as close as this heavyweight contest that gave Mc Kinney Christian a long-awaited signature victory over a top 2 district team from the last number of years. Daniel Chernikov led the way with a team-high 17 points on 8/10 field goal shooting. Steve Levine added 16 points with 8 helpers and 5 more steals. David Steinbrecher tripled times 3 and also notched 4 assists.

Yavneh (13-4) lost its first district game to someone other than Trinity Christian in now the third year they have been back in TAPPS. While this loss is definitely a game changer in a district that the Bulldogs had hoped would be a two horse race with everyone else trailing behind, 14 games remain before all is said and done. Just as a playoff series is said not to start until a team loses at home, the same can be said for TAPPS 3A District 3. The Red and Black will attempt to pocket two more of those must-win home games next week starting with Rockwall’s Heritage Christian on Monday.

The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…

Zack Pollack M&M

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