Round 16
By Orli Klinger
There have been some changes in Ramla over the last week. Tynesha Lewis
(5'9, Comets guard) was signed as a temporary replacement for Jaclyn Johnson
who is still recovering from knee surgery. The team also decided to release
Jackie Moore and bring in Alicia Thompson (6'1, ex Fever forward) instead.
Both players debuted in the top match up against #2 Ramat Hen.
Elizur Ramla 78 - Maccabi Ramat Hen 63
Armed with two new American players, Ramla handed Ramat Hen its worst loss
of the season. Alicia Thompson had an outstanding debut, Amber Hall
dominated as usual and Ramat Hen only had answers during one quarter.
Ramla quickly went up 10-1. Two 3's by Liron Cohen and points by Thompson
made it 18-9 as Simone Edwards was the only one that came to play for Ramat
Hen. Ramla led 24-15 after one.
Ramat Hen woke up in the 2nd quarter and managed to cut the lead to 32-33
after a rare basket by Vicky Hall who wasn't a factor. Grinboym and Raguz
helped Simone a little and Ramat Hen tightened up the D, but Amber Hall made
sure to keep Ramla ahead, leading 37-35 at the break.
Alicia Thompson scored 6 straight points at the start of the 3rd and Ramla
began to break the game open. Ramat Hen couldn't string two baskets together
and looked pretty lost. A three pointer by Natasha Branchikova gave Ramla a
58-46 lead going into the 4th.
Ramat Hen continued to fall apart as 5 straight points by Amber Hall made it
63-48. A Tynesha Lewis three pointer made it a 20 point game Ramla began to
celebrate, and not only because Ramat Hasharon lost.
For Ramla:
Amber Hall - 22 pts (8/16 FGs, 6/7 FTs), 18 rebs.
Alicia Thompson - 20 pts, 6 rebs, 4 ast
Tynesha Lewis - 11 pts (3/5 2pt FGs, 1/1 3pt FGs, 2/2 FTs), 6 rebs.
Liron Cohen - 9 pts (0/2 2pt FGs, 3/9 3pt FGs), 7 rebs, 2 ast
Natasha Branchikova - 9 pts
For Ramat Hen:
Simone Edwards - 22 pts (8/19 FGs, 6/9 FTs), 7 rebs, 3 steals.
Vicky Hall - 11 pts (4/15 FGs, 3/4 FTs), 3 rebs.
Marianna Raguz - 11 pts (5/10 FGs, 1/1 FTs).
Rivi Grinboym - 9 pts
Maccabi Ashdod 87 - YES Ramat Hasharon 78
Ramat Hasharon's 8 game winning streak has come to a very surprising halt at
Ashdod of all places, against a team which lost its previous two meetings
with the defending champs by a total of 44 points. Ramat Hasharon lost Ina
Gourevitch early on and had to manage without Limor Mizrachi who fouled out
with 7 minutes to play. Not to take anything away from Ashdod, who led
through out the game and fought hard to finally stop the Ramat Hasharon
momentum after they have gone undefeated for over 2 months.
For Ashdod:
Kenya Larkin - 18 pts (5/16 FGs, 6/6 FTs), 5 rebs, 7 ast, 3 steals & 4 TOs.
Crystal Givens - 18 pts (6/10 FGs, 6/7 FTs), 5 rebs, 3 ast & 4 TOs.
Vika Rudovski - 18 pts (0/2 2pt FGs, 6/10 3pt FGs)
Valerie Muoneke - 14 pts (7/9 FGs), 9 rebs.
Sarit Arbel - 12 pts (5/12 FGs, 2/2 FTs), 9 rebs, 6 ast
For Ramat Hasharon:
Lidiya Varbanova - 22 pts (10/12 FGs, 2/2 FTs).
Rhonda Mapp - 19 pts (7/17 FGs, 4/6 FTs), 11 rebs.
Tracy Reid - 18 pts (8/15 FGs, 2/5 FTs), 7 rebs, 3 ast, 3 steals.
Limor Mizrachi - 14 pts (3/3 2pt FGs, 2/8 3pt FGs, 2/2 FTs), 6 ast, 2 steals
& 6 TOs.
Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 83 - Bnei Yehuda 68
A big win for Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin in the race for 4th place.
For Haifa/Motzkin:
Aleksandra Music - 23 pts (11/13 FGs, 1/1 FTs), 8 rebs
Elena Mustafina - 19 pts (1/5 2pt FGs, 5/8 3p FGs, 2/2 FTs)
Lili Latinovic - 16 pts (3/7 FGs, 10/12 FTs), 7 rebs, 5 ast
LaNisha Cartwell - 11 pts, (4/12 FGs, 3/4 FTs), 9 rebs, 3 ast & 3 blocks.
Rinat Zalts - 11 pts (5/12 FGs), 6 rebs.
For Bnei Yehuda:
Dragoslava Zakula - 24 pts (9/14 FGs, 5/5 FTs), 4 rebs
Tawona Alhaleem - 19 pts (7/16 FGs, 4/5 FTs), 7 rebs.
Leslie Johnson - 13 pts (6/9 FGs, 1/2 FTs), 8 rebs.
Maccabi Raanana 116 - Elizur Holon 44
Raanana, who lost their last to games by a total of 3 points, handed Holon
its biggest loss in club history. Holon is the most decorated club in
Israeli women's basketball, as they won 18 Israeli cups and 20
championships, with the last one coming in 1997. The club is experiencing
major financial difficulties and might close the team soon.
For Raanana: Tatum Brown and Edwina Brown 33 pts each.
For Holon: Octavia Blue and Tal Milchen 12 pts each.
Round 16 MVP: Vika Rudovski
Rudovski swished 6 of 10 threes in Ashdod's amazing win over Ramat Hasharon.
Until that game Vika hit only a modest 32% from behind the arc, but in honor
of the champions' visit she decided to give Ashdod fans some hope looking
ahead to the Israeli Cup semis.
Round 16 First Team:
Amber Hall - Players in Ramla come and go, but you can always count on
Amber's double double. 22 points, 18 boards and great defense on Vicky Hall
in the marquee match up versus Ramat Hen.
Aleksandra Music - A great game for Haifa/Motzkin's guard with 23 points on
a whooping 11 for 13 shooting in the important win against Bnei Yehuda.
Vika Rudovski - Ashdod's hot hand cooled off Ramat Hasharon.
Alicia Thompson - Ramla's new foreigner couldn't have asked for a better
debut as she finished with 20 points on a variety of moves, 6 boards and 4
assists.
Sarit Arbel - Arbel continues to deliver for Ashdod, finishing with 12 pts,
9 boards and 6 assists.
Just missed: Tatum Brown, Edwina Brown, Dragoslava Zakula & Kenya Larkin.
Round 16 All-Bust team:
Vicky Hall - Nothing was working for Hall who made just 4 of her 15 shots.
Goni Tanhelson - Only 2 points on bad shooting in the loss to Haifa/Motzkin.
Ina Boutenko - Bnei Yehuda needed a lot more than 6 points from her to win
in Motzkin.
Monika Kovac - A season low in points for Ramat Hen, part of the blame lands
on the point guard.
Gulsah Akkaya - Couldn't fill Gourevitch's shoes after her injury, finishing
with only 3 points.
The Standings:
1) Ramla 14-2
2) Ramat Hen 10-6
3) Ramat Hasharon 10-6
4) Bnei Yehuda 8-8
5) Raanana 7-9
6) Haifa/Motzkin 7-9
7) Ashdod 5-11
8) Holon 3-13
Information reprinted with permission of Lior Klinger and Orli Klinger. Send an e-mail to be put on the mailing list.