Yavneh defeated Yeshiva Atlanta 47-35 Sunday morning to claim third place in the 5th Annual David A. Yaffee z’l Memorial Tournament. The win improves the Bulldogs record to 13-9.
Yavneh shook off a miserable first half to play 16 solid minutes and salvage third place in a tournament the Bulldogs could have and probably should have won. With an emphasis on the defense that this team was predicated on, Yavneh held Y-Atl scoreless for nearly 120 seconds to begin. In fact, both teams combined for a 1-7 shooting start. It was an 11-4 spurt that served as a defibrillator for Atlanta and sent the Bulldogs right back into Operation Crisis Management. Making only 3 of their first 12 shots, again Yavneh seemed lifeless and searching for answers. They lacked intensity at both ends of the court and took more time to swing the ball against Atlanta’s zone than a flamingo could navigate through a marathon. It was the unlikely contributions of two seldom used posts that gave the Bulldogs a road map out of the doldrums in Houston…finally. Senior Ethan Prescott inspired a 5-0 spurt that fellow classmate Micah MW Steinbrecher helped to execute to even the game at 17-17 late in the second quarter. Steinbrecher literally cleared out an opposing defender and finished the play that teammates and coaches had been waiting on for just short of 4 years. The Y-Atl lead sat at 21-19 at the half and outside of the short spark from people other than leading scorers Elan Kogutt and Jordan Prescott. While Kogutt, nursing a sore wrist, scored a season-low 4 points on 0 field goals in the first half. Meanwhile, Prescott was shooting 1/8 which provided no help at all to the cause. A different team, however, emerged from the halftime locker room. Kogutt connected on two baseline jumpers with his struggling counterpart remanded to the bench for virtually the entire third period. He then bottomed a straight-away three pointer for the lead at 26-24 midway through the quarter. Suddenly, Atlanta was frustrated as they were not getting free lanes to the basket nor were they getting 8 shots at the rim any longer on seemingly every possession. Once the Bulldogs took the lead, Senior Captain Miles Pulitzer made that lead hold up on the very next Atlanta possession that took nearly three minutes. The defensive clinic that he led on that trip down the floor not only sent a message but may have restored the confidence of a team regaining momentum for a late season surge. The 1-8 Prescott returned for the final 1.3 seconds to drill a three point field goal, seizing all the game’s momentum, instantly ending his personal slump, and sending Yavneh back to Dallas on a high. Clearly, the answer to Prescott’s shooting woes is 7 minutes and 59 seconds of rest at a time before all field goal attempts. The final stanza began similarly to how the third ended, with Pulitzer taking the ball to the rack for a game-high 7 point Yavneh advantage. An anti-climactic final period was highlighted by a Jordan Prescott flop that not only made Senior Josh Karnett proud (no charges taken 2 straight games) but also made him the first player in Yavneh history to record a ref-proclaimed contactless foul. In preserving the victory, Sophomore Reid Cohen played a great game (5 assists) including a pinpoint pass to Jake Greif for a key basket and a scoot to the hoop putting the game away for good late. A key Karnett offensive rebound was another key on a more than critical late-game possession. Kogutt led all scorers with 19 points and the Captain chipped in with 9 but did so much more than score to will the Bulldogs to victory. Also of note, a season-low 5 turnovers were pivotal in turning the game in Yavneh’s favor. All 13 players saw action for the Bulldogs.
Yavneh (13-9) will play HSAA Tuesday night in one final warmup before they travel to Baltimore next Thursday. While encouraging, this game will mean very little if the Bulldogs dont get results-oriented in a hurry and that will mean a Baltimore tournament championship or bust for this team.
The Kennel Report, now in its sixth season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
LF 7-7
TB