Yavneh defeated Dallas Sunset Public High School 95-56 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 6-2.
Whatever was in the water Monday could be seen as nothing but a distant memory as Yavneh transitioned from maybe the worst shooting effort in over a decade to scoring 90+ points for the first time since a 2002 double OT victory over Hyman Brand. Senior Tri-captain Noah Rubinstein came out aggressive with a straight-away bank shot and a trip to the free throw line. Griffin Levine added the first of several team AND NONEs on the night to stake the Bulldogs to a quick 7-0 lead. With Sunset teetering on the brink of getting acclimated with the basketball game, another tri-captain Zach Epstein did more than just hit this 5A DISD public school in the mouth. Epstein, notoriously known at times as a slow starter, was anything but in this first period. With the score 9-3, all Epstein did was go on a personal 10-0 run in under 2 minutes of game action for the best streak in his illustrious career. A floating rim rattler, a corner triple that eased the shooting tensions of Bulldog Nation, another shot from distance, and then a subsequent lunging steal for a layup had Epstein on pace to score 80 points in the basketball game. The game had turned into a 19-3 rout just 5 minutes in and Sunset looked dazed, confused, and according to the names of their play calls hungry. A third three ball courtesy of Freshman Jonah Eber falling out of the corner with plenty of contact had coaches all over the country uneasy about this now potent Bulldog shooting attack. In addition to the hot shooting, the Bulldogs found a second home at the charity stripe. Into the foul bonus just 6:18 into the contest, the home team benefited from at least 2 Sunset player with 3 fouls a piece. The 28-9 Yavneh lead after one period of play came courtesy of 58% shooting, three triples, and 19 combined points from the RubinEpstein combo. 28 points seems like a season’s worth of points in comparison to the whole 5 points scored in the same time period just a day earlier. The Bison made their run to start the second quarter to the tune of 10-2 and trimmed the deficit to as few as 11 points. Levine’s accidental assist to Sophomore Eli Minsky in the short corner reignited the Yavneh offense which had nowhere to go but fade at least a little in the second 8-minute session. While free throws continued to be an issue (another 11 misses for the game), the transition game was back and better than ever. Rubinstein’s no look pass to Daniel Chernikov accompanied three Griffin Levine finishes for a 16-6 spurt that re-established Yavneh’s dominance. The last electric finish by Levine was a wild flip that looked more like a circus act than a basketball move but still counted for 2 points with the foul. 46-25 was the halftime lead with seemingly everything going the Bulldogs way. 48% shooting, a +8 on the boards, 12 second period points from Levine alone, and a free throw attempt differential of 14-2 all played into the best offensive half of the season. Most impressively, the forced turnover crutch that Yavneh so often relies on was a dead even differential which meant all the other areas of their game had to and were clicking.
Instead of giving Sunset hope to start the second half, Yavneh crushed the third period of play scoring even more points (34) than either of the previous two. Epstein continued his stellar game with a tip follow and after being the victim of about 57 blocked shots in 24 hours (a potential world’s record when including the rim’s blocked shots), Daniel Chernikov got on track in a big way. Chernikov suddenly could not miss inside, finishing at the rim on multiple occasions and even making a great dish to Rubinstein for the first 30-point lead of the night. Epstein made another superhuman steal on the Sunset side of the court for the 5th AND NONE of the game, quickly becoming an epidemic. The 70th Bulldog point came on an Eber find of Senior Liad Guttman on the run with 3:34 to play still in the third period. Guttman seemed to be the third, fourth, and fifth wave of energy against a team that was leaking fuel by the gallons as the game entered the final stanza. Guttman’s coast to coast rebound and finish ended the third period at 80-39. Yavneh lost some of their laser focus in the final quarter with some naturally ragged play but the work had been done and this game was far from in any doubt. One final AND NONE gave the packed pre-Thanksgiving crowd a Triipp Special with Rubinstein stumbling like a Michael Jackson music video from the 1980’s while depositing his 14th and 15th points of the game. Chernikov continued to finish with ease at the basket but actually delivered the helping hand to Levine’s transition lefty bucket for the 90th point of the night and an even 90-50 margin with 2:28 remaining. Griffin Levine led all scorers with 22 more points to go along with 7 assists. Daniel Chernikov added 17 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. Noah Rubinstein poured in a 15 point/12 rebound effort, making it a clean 26 rebounds in 2 games this week. Zach Epstein’s 20 minutes of near perfection netted him 14 points on 6/7 shooting including a welcoming 2/2 from distance. The Double E shooting combo was in full effect as Jonah Eber also broke out with 10 points on 3/4 three point accuracy. Liad Guttman also ran wild down the stretch and finished with a career-high 11 points for the game to complement his 5 rebounds.
Yavneh (6-2) took a gigantic step with a defensive showcase followed by an offensive all-you-can-eat buffet in back to back games. In their upcoming business trip to Baltimore, Maryland, however, it may just take both in the same game to finally bring home a Weiner Tournament championship. Their 7-game quest begins a week from Wednesday in The Charm City. Can the Bulldogs make the third time the charm on a first Saturday in December? Can this small in numbers but loaded in talent group put offense, defense, and special teams together in one package for all the marbles? Can Yavneh set up all their 2017 aspirations with the strongest of finishes to a 2016 that has seen special growth for the program as a whole?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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