Yavneh defeated Ovilla Christian of Red Oak 61-45 Thursday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 20-9 (8-6).
In a virtual all or nothing spot, Yavneh chose the ALL option securing a playoff spot, winning its 20th game, and now rolling with a district play high 3 game winning streak. The Big 6 had at least 3 field goals each as the Bulldogs got contributions from all 8 available players Thursday. There would be no slow start tonight as Daniel Chernikov connected on a pair of free throws and David Steinbrecher buried a wing triple for a 5-0 start. Ovilla was ice cold early, missing their first 8 shots in stark contrast to the meeting at their place in which they scored early and often. Steve Levine’s steal in the open floor led to a jump stop finish and Noah Rubinstein angled to the hoop for a 9-2 advantage. Ovilla’s best sequence of the night was their 7-0 response as the Bulldogs started firing errant jump shots and the road team seemed to get a bit comfortable. Ovilla took their first lead at 12-11 late in the first period but one of those many Yavneh jump shots found safe haven in the basket as Steinbrecher fired from the deep corner as the first quarter came to a close. The Red and Black led 14-12 on that shot and the game was literally that close through 8 minutes. Shooting percentage, rebounds, and turnovers were all a dead heat and the teams combined for 5 three pointers. The Steinbrecher three pointer seemed like a timely connection at the time but in actuality it sparked the playoff clinching spurt that an entire community has been yearning for. Steinbrecher picked up immediately with another trifecta for a 6-0 personal run for a 17-12 Yavneh lead. A long possession ended with a Griffin Levine scoop at the hoop and an ensuing steal for a layup. In a flash the Bulldogs had extended their lead to 9 points on the backs of those two players’ energy. Steve Levine ripped off a pass and used nothing but Levines to receive the ball back for a 23-12 edge. When he found Jonathan Ochstein on the baseline for a terrific drive to the basket the run had reached 14-0. Griffin Levine did an excellent job setting up Chernikov for a ground and pound end to the first half, continuously feeding him in the paint for easy finishes. Griffin capped the 21-5 run in total with a ferocious slash to the hoop for an AND ONE finish with just 1.5 seconds to play in the second period. The 32-17 Yavneh halftime advantage might as well have been 102-17. Ovilla had no answer for a team that had multiple scoring threats that were sharing the ball, finishing, and defending as a unit. The Bulldogs held a 56-29% field goal shooting edge, led in rebounds, forced 7 turnovers, and most importantly were +8 in field goals made. The Levines combined for 10 first half assists to lead the way for the home team. Some critics still felt Yavneh would have to play like it was 0-0 and they were down by 20 to secure the victory.
Griffin Levine kept the pipeline to Chernikov in the paint going to start the second half, and Steinbrecher’s steal for an AND NONE attacking finish pushed the lead to 19 points. Ovilla would fight back to within 15 at 36-21 but Rubinstein was using all kinds of tricks as he used the glass to shovel a pass over to Chernikov for a bobbling finish. Then he scored his own points in the paint on a nifty lefty scoop while looking completely the other direction. Ovilla would score more points in the third quarter than their futile efforts in the second period but had no luck slowing down the Yavneh scoring train in high gear. Steve Levine could not let Ovilla walk away from TAPPS 3A without one last look at his look away Lake House special with a foul to go along with it for the three point play. Steinbrecher, who has played as well as anyone in the state the last 4 games, assisted his buddy Ochstein inside and then drained another three pointer off a great pass from Sammy Weyser for the first 20 point lead at 48-28 ending the third quarter. Weyser used a clear out to drive hard to the rack and earn a pair of free throws for the most decorated free throw shooter on the planet. Those 2 points and 3 more from an Ochstein AND 1 finish pushed the lead out to 21 points. The rout was on but the final buzzer did not sound before a Triipp Rubinstein special exhibition at half-court and of course Griffin Levine starting a laser light show while simply trying to dribble out the clock. Micah Romaner’s late assist to Rubinstein may have been the most acrobatic dish of the night but the other 17 combined for a team win that this team literally had to have. David Steinbrecher led the way with 14 points on 7 less misses than a night ago and collected 5 huge defensive rebounds. Daniel Chernikov added 12 points while the Levines and Jonathan Ochstein all scored 9 points apiece. Griffin Levine also dished 7 assists while Steve had 5. Noah Rubinstein’s 6 points and 5 rebounds also played a big role in the decisive run.
Yavneh (20-9) knows they are in the playoffs and now will try to climb the ladder as they jockey for playoff position in 2 final district games against the top teams in district. Trinity Christian has yet to lose a game in 2 years of district play and the Bulldogs hold the final opportunity to hand them a loss before they ascend their way up 2 levels for next season. Playing its best basketball in months, Yavneh looks to continue the momentum they have built the last 4 days as they streak towards an eventual playoff run in just about a week’s time. Ovilla is just another team with “Vill” in their name to be eliminated from playoff contention in the last week but there will be better days for them in 2A next season without question. For now, they learned that if you want to beat the Bulldogs you absolutely must score 50+ points as only 1 opponent in 20 games has been victorious scoring 49 points or less against Yavneh.
The Kennel Report, now in its twelfth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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