Ramat Hasharon 72 – Bnei Yehuda 77
Bnei Yehuda, who nearly went bankrupt in the off season, is off to a
great
start. Bnei Yehuda pulled off an awesome road win after leading through
out
the game and controlling the boards, while the defending champs
continued to
lack fire.
For Bnei Yehuda:
Kelley Gibson 22 pts (5 threes)
Leigh Aziz 19 pts
DeTrina White 17
pts
Inbal Mizrachi 11 pts
Taly Klain 9 pts
For Ramat Hasharon:
Michelle Snow 25 pts
Gunta Basko 20 pts
Octavia Blue 8 pts
Aluma
Goren 7
pts
Tamar Maoz 5 pts
Lili Latinovic 3 pts
Maccabi Raanana 58 – Maccabi Ramat Hen 63
Ramat Hen squeezed out a victory following another weak night
offensively.
After the shot clock agreed to start working, the visitors raced off to
a
10-2 lead 5 minutes into the game. Ednisha Curry was the only Raanana
player
taking shots, and she nailed a 3 to make it 14-6. Raanana managed to
make
Ramat Hen play a half court game and limit them to 2 points in the
final 2
and a half minutes of the quarter. Ramat Hen led 16-8 after 1.
Ramat Hen continued to struggle against Raanana’s zone defense, and
made
only two field goals in the 2nd quarter. A three pointer by Alina
Morchova
and two threes by Curry tied the game at 19. The refs then called a
very
bizarre technical foul Plenette Pierson, her 3rd personal, and things
were
not looking good for Ramat Hen. Ina Boutenko scored their next 7 points
to
put Ramat Hen back up 26-23, but an Inbal Shnapper three to cut it to
26-23
with 2 minutes to play in the half. No team managed another point in
the
period.
Raanana stayed in its zone in the 3rd quarter, but Ramat Hen was
finally
starting to break it. Pierson set up camp in the paint as Ramat Hen
cleaned
up the glass, Susan Murray watched with great interest, Trapp was
trying to
do it alone and Curry wasn’t getting the ball. Pierson kicked it out to
Boutenko for three, Tawona Alhaleem got a steal and lay-up, the tempo
picked
up and Raanana went back to man-to-man. Alhaleem kept penetrating and
getting to the free throw line, as Ramat Hen pulled away for a 42-32
lead
with about 3 minutes to play in the quarter. The shot clock then
decided to
give everybody an unexpected three minute break, which seemed to stop
Ramat
Hen’s momentum. Raanana swished a couple of threes and Pierson’s 4th
foul
had coach Rabi screaming for a timeout with 70 seconds to go in the
quarter.
Allison Trapp capped off a 10-3 run as Raanana was down just 42-45
after 3.
Shnapper finished a nice play with a 3 to tie the game, and Hana Haleli
gave
the locals their first lead, 49-48 with 7:30 to play. A Trapp fast
break
made it 51-48, while Alhaleem was the only one scoring for Ramat Hen.
Pierson and her 4 fouls returned to the floor, and she scored to give
Ramat
Hen the lead back at 54-51 with five minutes to go. Pierson fouled out
with
2:22 to go, and Alhaleem quickly followed after an absolutely
horrendous
call that put Trapp on the line for two. She nailed them both, cutting
Ramat
Hen’s lead to 57-56.
Shira Haelyon didn’t let her team wallow in self pity, and went strong
to
the hoop for her only basket of the game, making it 56-59. Raanana
missed on
the other end, Boutenko hit 2 FTs and sealed the deal.
For Ramat Hen:
Edwina Brown & Tawona Alhaleem 15 pts each
Plenette Pierson 14 pts
Ina
Boutenko 12 pts
For Raanana:
Ednisha Curry 16 pts
Allison Trapp 14 pts
Susan Murray 9 pts
ASA Jerusalem 73 – Hapoel Petah Tikva 94
Congrats to Petah Tikva on their first win of the young season. Petah
Tikva
looked hungrier and more ready from the opening tip. Taly Noy stopped
Telisha Quarles who couldn’t get into the flow of the game, as Chanel
Wright-Green and Molly Creamer led the visitors to a 46-32 half time
lead.
The 2nd half was mostly garbage time, as Petah Tikva didn’t let up.
For Petah Tikva:
Chanel Wright-Green 31 pts
Molly Creamer 23 pts & 4 assists
Tiffany
Listenbee 19 pts
Taly Noy 11 pts
Rivi Grinboym 4 pts
For Jerusalem:
Tijana Rus 21 pts
Valerie Muoneke & Telisha Quarles 15 pts each
Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 85 – Maccabi Ashdod 64
Sarit Arbel returned to Ashdod’s lineup, but they were missing Ebony
Tanner
who hurt her ankle in the previous game. Motzkin had no trouble going
wire
to wire for their 3rd victory.
For Haifa/Motzkin:
Yelena Mustfina 21 pts
Crystal Givens 16 pts
Laine Selwyn 15 pts
Lynn
Pride 14 pts
Nakia Sanford 11 pts
Michal Miron 6 pts
Adi Kindler 2
pts
For Ashdod:
Jo Ruth Woods 17 pts
Vika Rudovski & Kenya Larkin 14 pts each
Michal
Zarankin 8 pts
Elizur Ramla 103 – Elizur Holon 46
Ramla takes no prisoners.
For Ramla:
Monica Vesleovski 26 pts
Ayana Walker 18 pts
Nili Natcho 15 pts
Tal
Salz
13 pts
For Holon:
Sivan Ballalis 9 pts
Kristina Covington 7 pts
Sivan Smarly 6 pts
Round 3’s MVP: Kelley Gibson (Bnei Yehuda).
Gibson, who was far from impressive in the first 2 games, chose a good
day
to show up. Gibson swished five three pointers on her way to 22 points
in
Bnei Yehuda’s huge win at Ramat Hasharon.
Round 3’s First Team:
Leigh Aziz – Bnei Yehuda’s center helped her team battle on the boards
and
scored 19 points in their big win.
Chanel Wright-Green – Led Petah Tikva to its first W with 31 points.
Kelley Gibson – Her hot hand carried Bnei Yehuda to a sensational
victory.
Molly Creamer – One of the best shooters in the country finally managed
to
realize her potential with 23 points, 4 assists and no turnovers.
Yelena Mustafina – The only non-American in Haifa/Motzkin’s starting
lineup
quietly ends up as the top scorer week after week. She led Motzkin with
21
points vs. Ashdod.