Yavneh defeated Sunset Public High School 64-63 Monday evening. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 5-1.
As the Sunset players and coaches watched the basketball rim out from point-blank range for the third time in the final 8 seconds, Yavneh had no time to exhale. In a game that featured one of the most embarrassing defensive rebounding performances for a team that never trailed, the Bulldogs needed all of “Scintillating Senior” David Naxon’s 39 points/20 rebounds. While it would have been easier to grab a rebound in the final seconds to clinch the game, Yavneh relied on the buzzer to notch a quality win over a 5A Dallas Public School. Naxon sent a message early with a steal and a jam literally seconds into the contest. Playing against a starting unit clearly made up of bench players, Yavneh built a 12-3 lead over the first three minutes. As the actual Sunset starters finally entered the game, it was obvious that the deficit rattled their game. Had it not been for 24 turnovers and 28 offensive rebounds that they yielded, there is no telling what the Bulldog margin of victory would have been going away. A 19-11 first quarter was followed by a seesaw second frame to stagnate the lead at 7. Naxon recorded 15 first half points and both teams shot 55%. Yavneh actually controlled the rebounding battle 18-9 in the first half. Sunset saved their other 35 rebounds for Half #2. Fellow Senior Erez Krengel did not play in the second half due to a sore shoulder, putting the scoring burden solely on Naxon and Freshman Elan Kogutt, who tallied 11 points of his own. A box-and-one defense severely slowed Naxon’s progress in that third quarter, allowing him only 7 points. Having their 7 point halftime lead trimmed to 5 after three quarters, the Bulldogs unleashed Naxon in the final quarter. Scoring and getting to the free throw line regularly for 17 points in that final quarter, they saw the lead slowly deteriorate as Phillip Flores started to have his way on the offensive end and Antwon Harris relentlessly crashed the boards to the tune of 15 offensive rebounds to go along with 12 points. Down the stretch, the Bulldogs maintained only a 56-52 lead with 2:52 remaining. Naxon broke out for streaking layup to put Yavneh up by a commanding 7 at 61-54 but turnovers continued to keep the game close. Back to back 3 point plays by Flores and Harris coupled with 3 consecutive 1 point Yavneh trips to the free throw line cut the lead to one point in a hurry. If there was a mistake to be made down the stretch, the Bulldogs made it: missed free throws, turnovers, and lack of any rebounds at all. After Senior Brad Alhadef could not extend the 64-63 lead with 11.8 seconds remaining by missing on two free throw attempts, Yavneh chose a zone defense for the final sequence. Sunset was able to get an amazing 3 shots at the rim with no success in those final seconds, and literally only the end of the game prevented them from getting 3-4 more cracks at it. It was hard to tell if there was greater disbelief on the faces of Yavneh who just couldn’t grasp the rebound or Sunset who couldn’t put the ball in the basket from inches away. Either way, Naxon’s monstrous double-double along with major contributions from Kogutt and Sophomore Josh Karnett off the bench registered one of the biggest wins in nearly 2 seasons.
Yavneh (5-1) will play at Mc Kinney Christian Tuesday night.
The Kennel Report is written by Zack Pollack