Yavneh defeated Temple Christian aka The Green Team 59-39 Tuesday evening to improve the Bulldogs record to 7-6.
Longtime Yavneh rival Temple Christian came into the SR Center thinner and less athletic than they have been in years past but still managed to give the Bulldogs all they wanted for a half. In the end, the Bulldog running game would be way too much to handle. A first half that turned out to be every bit as ugly as the night before at Lucas Christian was delayed from the start by late referees. When the game finally started, Temple Christian stepped onto the court for the first time in what seems like 12 years without the little guard many have come to know simply as “Little Romeo”. Erez Krengel, the hero of the previous night, picked up right where he left off. Krengel hit a three pointer off the opening tap and Yavneh cruised to a quick 7-2 lead. The half stagnated from there as Yavneh seemed over-patient in their half court set and settled for missed three pointers when they did shoot the ball. 4-14 shooting, including 2-9 three point shooting, led to a mere 10-7 lead after a quarter. Krengel scored 8 points in that first quarter but would finish the first half with just 9. Freshman Josh Karnett, seeing extended minutes, took a big second quarter charge but Yavneh stumbled to a 20-15 halftime lead. The Bulldogs exerted very little energy in that first half and looked every bit of the team that was playing the second exhausting night of a back-to-back. 8/27 from the field for Yavneh was barely better than Temple Christian ’s 6/20. Yavneh would have to show more in the second half if they wanted to cruise. They turned to the Grinnell running game that has worked for the Bulldogs at times this season. The two groups of 5 running would figure to wear out the thin Blazers team. However, halfway through the third quarter, Yavneh’s lead was just 22-21. Temple Christian , though, was starting to get tired. Nothing breaks a game open like a 29-7 second half run. Fueled by high energy defensive plays from William Zalstein and Josh Karnett, rebounding from Aviv Schor and Michael San Soucie, and point production from Bradley Alhadef and Butch Shawel, the Bulldogs exploded. Krengel heated up to the tune of 17 second half points. He dropped 5 second half three pointers, including three in a row at one point. Zalstein was able to find Krengel on multiple occasions and Temple Christian was thoroughly worn out. A 44-24 lead after three quarters put the Bulldogs in cruise control for the remaining eight minutes. The second half performance of Krengel and the team was encouraging as Yavneh is back to a winning record once again. Krengel finished with 26 points on 9/19 shooting and made 7 of his 17 three point attempts. Michael San Soucie stepped up with a great 9 rebound performance, including 7 huge offensive rebounds. William Zalstein recorded 6 assists for Yavneh. Temple Christian lead guard Darrin Guillary scored 18 as one of two Blazer double-figure scorers.
Yavneh (7-6) will play at Irving the Highlands next Monday. Highlands has given fits to the Bulldogs in recent meetings in Irving .