North Shore Hebrew Academy of Great Neck, NY defeated Yavneh 59-47 Sunday afternoon in a Tier 1 Consolation game at the Red Sarachek Yeshiva University Tournament in New York. The loss drops the Bulldogs record to 25-10.
It was a tale of two halves Sunday but Yavneh’s good half unfortunately was the earlier and less deadly of the two. North Shore busted out of the gate with a 7-0 explosion before anyone could blink. After scoring in the twenties on Friday this was of terrible concern to a Bulldog team struggling of late on the offensive end. Sophomore Itai Guttman responded with a great looking reverse layup and the Yavneh Seniors teamed up to narrow the lead to 9-6. First, Kevin Sulski found Jake Greif and on the very next trip Jordan Prescott hooked up with Ben Romaner. Prescott hit a rare Sarachek triple off a great feed from Romaner less than a minute later to continue the run but NSHA led 13-9 after a single period. For the first time the Bulldog man defense did not seem to be on its game and the team needed a spark. Greif found Sulski for a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 13-13 as the Senior to Senior connections continued. It was, without a doubt, the best half of offensive basketball for that class collectively all season long. Specifically, Romaner was on his game with another assist to fellow post Guttman for the first Bulldog lead at 15-13. He was active and the answer to North Shore’s zone. A special moment occurred with 7:09 to play in the second period as Jordan Prescott tied Elan Kogutt for second all-time in total points with the second of two made free throws. On the very next possession, Prescott became the sole possessor of second place on that Yavneh all-time scoring list as he drilled the first of another set of free throws. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were wearing down NSHA and suddenly built a 21-16 lead. Adam Karnett notched 5 first half steals and exhibited a maximum effort level throughout the first sixteen minutes. Karnett bounced to the floor to corral a rebound with 8 seconds left in the half, which was the pivotal first half play. Unable to breathe fresh air, Karnett called for timeout. Normally those plays don’t mean much with such little time remaining but this one was huge. With time expiring Kevin Sulski tapped in a three point miss with a bump for a 23-16 halftime lead. While there were still 0.2 seconds left in the half, it was unclear whether NSHA had much left. The 8 turnovers were a concern but the Bulldogs had the #4 seed right where they wanted them.
Clearly the same Yavneh team did not come out of the locker room. The turnovers started to mount and with them North Shore’s offense kicked into another gear. An 8-2 run trimmed the lead to a single point but then Karnett’s acrobatic reverse layup momentarily stemmed the tide. Another mini NSHA run, however, surged the NY-area school into the lead at 30-29 to end the third period. As the turnovers starting coming now at a feverish pace, the Bulldogs were doing whatever they could to stay in the game. Prescott’s spin move kept the lead at a single basket but a 5-0 North Shore spurt off two lethal turnovers pushed the lead out to 41-33 and essentially ended the game with 6:13 to play. The lead vacationed into double digits briefly but 7 would be the closest Yavneh would get the rest of the way. 25 turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds allowed are just too much to overcome in any basketball game; Sunday was no exception. 1/10 from three point range just added to the outside difficulties for the tournament as well. Prescott led the Bulldogs with 15 points and Karnett followed with 14 of his own. Itai Guttman had his best offensive game with 8 points and 11 rebounds. Also of note, the team connected on 14/16 free throws.
Yavneh (25-10) will not get its chance to stand alone as the second best finish at Sarachek in school history but they will have an opportunity to tie for the second best finish should they achieve 7th place on Monday. To do this they will need to beat their in-state rival. The Bulldogs will have their much-anticipated shot at revenge against the artists formerly known as Houston Beren Academy. Beren has won the series’ last three meetings after winning only once at all before that. In fact, this outgoing Senior class is the only to play and not get at least one victory against Beren. With seventh place on the line and so many rivalry implications, Monday will certainly bring an interesting close to the 2011-12 season.
The Kennel Report, now in its eighth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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