MTA defeated Yavneh 73-46 Thursday night in a Tier 1 Qualifier at the Red Sarachek Yeshiva University Tournament in New York. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 17-11.
All Yavneh heard going into their opening round matchup against Sarachek Tournament host school MTA was that they had to shut down all-world guard Yisrael Feld. It was, however, the inability to stop three complimentary players that ultimately sent the Bulldogs to the Tier 2 bracket.
In easily the most intimidating environment any of these Yavneh players had ever seen, the Bulldogs hung in there with a visibly bigger and deeper MTA squad for almost a half. With the entire building ready for a Feld domination, it was Yavneh who threw the first punch jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Up and down Senior Elan Kogutt was focused early and often, making his argument that he was the premier star player on the court. MTA threatened to put on an early run but every time their lead stretched to multiple posessions the Bulldogs had an answer. Trailing 9-4, the Bulldogs introduced their other feature scorer. Jordan Prescott landed two consecutive trifectas from nearly the East River to recapture the lead for Yavneh. Feld had finally taken over sparking a 9-0 run but the Bulldogs once again had an answer. 5 quick points from Kogutt, including a buzzer beating bank shot triple with a leg in the air, composed an 9-1 run bridging the first and second periods. The score would once again be tied at 19-19 but MTA had seen enough. A 10-0 response demoralized the Bulldogs and started to expose some glaring advantages that would end the game’s competitiveness. Feld had been good in the first half (16 points) but Kogutt and Prescott combined for 21 of their own. The 12 point MTA adavantage, though, was comprised of 5 point blank offensive rebound putbacks and 3 breakaway layups off Yavneh live turnovers.
The Bulldogs just had to limit their two weaknesses: turnovers and defensive rebounding in order to stage a comeback. Unfortunately, they did neither and the deficit went nowhere but up. 15, 17, 19, 20+…Easy lay-ins by a 6″7 monster were just too easy and open three pointers allowed MTA to run and hide from Yavneh by the conclusion of the third period. MTA shot over 60% from wire to wire and there was no way the Bulldogs were going to produce the requisite 80 points to win the game. While Feld led all scorers with 26 points, Kogutt paced the Bulldogs with 20 points. Freshman Adam Karnett and Prescott followed with 11 and 9 points respectively.
There would be no shocking the world for Yavneh on this night. They had to play the perfect game and fell almost three quarters short of that. There is, however, no time to dwell on what could have been as the Bulldogs quest for a Tier 2 championship begins at 10:30am Friday. Now seeded #3 in Tier 2, Yavneh (17-11) will have to navigate their way through a still very competitive minefield starting with Boca Raton, FL’s Weinbaum Yeshiva. Standing in the way of a very respectable Tier 2 championship will likely be Hillel Miami and Berman HS from Maryland. If this team can finally solve the turnover and/or rebounding bug once and for all, they stand a great chance to win the needed three games in four days with both Kogutt and Prescott playing at an extremely high offensive level. Will Yavneh make the three game run and restore prominence in New York on the big stage?
Only time will tell!!
The Kennel Report, now in its seventh season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
MWJR? 3-26