Yavneh defeated Southwest Christian 57-47 Monday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 11-3.
It was just like Saturday night. An almost identical 26 turnovers, an unfathomable 24 offensive rebounds allowed, a team looking to ONLY score in transition…The difference: Southwest Christian of Fort Worth was not able to capitalize like St Marks did. The Bulldogs started sluggishly but built a 9-0 lead over the first 285 seconds. Adam Schor made a great post move, connected on a pair of free throws, and almost a double digit lead was accomplished in shaky fashion. The Yavneh transition would eventually kick in and the lead grew to double digits at 15-4 on a Guttman connection with Itai’s steal/assist to Ori. A nine point edge for the Bulldogs after a period of play saw 17 combined turnovers by the two teams. Neither team hit 40% from the field and SWC was simply doing nothing offensively to trail by 9. If the first eight minutes were sloppy, the next period of play was a basketball train wreck. An unusual group of personnel for Yavneh due to foul trouble, turnover issues, and other combined with the SWC inept offensive attack spiraled the game downhill in a hurry. A flurry of yet more turnovers by the visitors far away from home yielded a 6-2 run and kept the game to a 5 point margin. Senior Josh Lynn responded with two run-stopping triples to keep the game at three possessions two separate times. Air Grant Prengler also soared for a pair of key transition layups to keep SWC at bay. The lead, however, was a mere 23-17 at halftime. Turnovers (13), offensive rebounds allowed (13), and some of the worst shot selection since James Naismith put up the peach baskets unspeakably allowed Southwest Christian to hang around on their home floor.
A big third period run would surely energize a team sleep-walking like they were coming off a disappointing loss over the weekend. The lead would shrink to 4 points before Adam Karnett decided it was time to play. With the help of an Adam Schor block party, Karnett engineered the 13-0 run that introduced SWC to Yavneh’s last month of basketball prior to Saturday night. Schor had a block that registered on the Richter Scale in many California cities. It was only one of his 7 blocked shots (I Guttman also had 5) that ignited the spurt but Karnett pretty much tool it from there. After playing catch with Josh Lynn for most of the length of the floor resulting in a layup, the transition scoring machine created two potential three point plays with contact at the basket (missed both ensuing free throws). He finished the run with a mid-air finish in which there was time to do some biology homework while half-spinning. The lead was suddenly 38-21 and the Bulldogs knew the worm was turning as Sam Kleinman found Jason Epstein for a medium rare jump shot. The transition had overwhelmed SWC and a 44-29 lead heading to the fourth period was going to be a mountain that would be hard enough to climb without additional pebbles in their shoes. The Bulldogs continued to mistake their way to leaving an opening for SWC down the stretch but made plays at exactly the right times needed to escape. Lynn connected on a third downtown heave for a 13 point lead with 4:58 to go and the biggest seal of the night came two trips later. With the lead 49-40 3:45 from the finish line, Kleinman found Itai Guttman rolling to the rim for an 11 point edge. Kleinman would have to connect on a foul-line jumper to secure the double digit win but the Bulldogs had escaped another strange road environment without playing well. Karnett led all scorers with 16 points followed by Josh Lynn and Adams Schor and Steinbrecher with 9, 7, and 6 points respectively. Kleinman also had 5 points to go along with 9 assists. The blocking combination of Schor and Itai Guttman produced 12 rejections and 16 of the 33 rebounds.
Yavneh (11-3) hosts Covenant Wednesday night with a chance to even the all-time series at 3-3. While the teams have not met in several years, this will be an interesting matchup as Covenant is coming off an appearance in the TAPPS state semifinals a season ago. The Bulldogs will not get away with another 25+ turnover effort so there is work to be in the meantime.
The Kennel Report, now in its ninth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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