Yavneh defeated Thomas Jefferson Public High School 55-33 Tuesday night. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 6-3.
Back from vacation, Junior Jordan Prescott combined with Senior Elan Kogutt to account for a 15-0 run in four minutes to start the second half and blow away a third straight opponent well before the fourth period began. Other than a freak meltdown that caused unnecessary drama in closing out Emery Sunday, the New Look Bulldogs have not been challenged for 12 straight quarters during their three game tear. Junior Kevin Sulski set the tone early with a Skywalker rebound and Junior Jake Greif chipped in with his patented first quarter rumble to the basket that this time resulted in a three point play. Both teams were tremendously sloppy early but TJ just could not stand to hold on to the ball while also unable to keep their hands off a pesky Yavneh squad. With the score just 7-7 beginning the second period, TJ’s turnover party and fouling expedition started to swing the game. The Bulldogs ran off an 11-5 run to seize control but an 8 point halftime lead could have been much bigger. With TJ only so eager to foul Yavneh at every turn, the Bulldogs on many occasions beat them to the punch with turnovers of their own. The two teams combined for 17 turnovers in all during the first half. In a shocking turn of events, the home team actually connected on 6/6 from the foul line for a pleasant change up. Had they had any semblance of patience similar to the snail-like grocery deli attendant that they encountered just days earlier in Houston, no less than 10 additional free throw attempts could have been the result. As it was, Yavneh outshot a public school team that was busy missing easy looks at the basket when they were not turning the ball over. Any chance of a letdown was immediately dismissed as Prescott fired off three consecutive triples. That was followed by three baskets of the two point variety by Kogutt to break the game open at 29-12. There were times during and after that run where the whole Thomas Jefferson team would repeatedly be on the offensive end while Bulldog players were laying the ball in the basket. Kogutt had a second straight high field goal percentage game. He lead all scorers with 16 points and again did not miss a single free throw. Prescott scored all 9 of his points in a three minute stretch and Freshman Adam Karnett followed with 9 of his own. Sophomore Josh Lynn’s 5 points could have been 8 if not for a clock malfunction correction but the real story there was his career high 3 field goal attempts inside the paint, including a two-shot trip.
Yavneh (6-3) will finally have time to rest before playing at Nevada Community High School next Monday.
The Kennel Report, now in its seventh season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
MWJR? 3-9