Lidiya Varbanova will join Ramat Hasharon after all. The team will
release
point guard Lili Latinovic to make room for the Bulgarian center, who
won
two championships with the club in the last two seasons.
The top 5 teams didn’t face each other, and added another win to the
record.
For Ramla & Haifa/Motzkin, it was easy. Bnei Yehuda didn’t have too
much
trouble either against the injury plagued Ashdod. Ramat Hasharon shook
off
Raanana in the 3rd quarter but eased up in the 4th, and Ramat Hen stole
a
road win in Petah Tikva.
Ramat Hasharon 82 – Maccabi Raanana 74
Michelle Greco debuted with Raanana, and they led 15-12 after 1. Alina
Morhova hit a 3 to make it 18-12 to start the 2nd, but Ramat Hasharon
woke
up and turned the tables. They led 21-20 few minutes later. At the half
the
locals led 30-27.
Great minutes by Aluma Goren and Gunta Basko carried Ramat Hasharon to
a
50-36 lead. Raanana didn’t give up but Ramat Hasharon hardly missed in
a
32-point quarter that ended with a Basko buzzer-beater from downtown,
62-46.
Ednisha Curry and Michelle Greco still fought to bring Raanana back
into the
game but Lili Latinovic made it 73-54 for Ramat Hasharon, their biggest
lead, with 4:30 remaining. Raanana kept playing for its dignity and
managed
to make it an 8-point game in the end.
For Ramat Hasharon:
Gunta Basko – 20 pts, 9 rebs
Natasha Bartskova – 14 pts
Octavia Blue – 12 pts, 10 rebs
Aluma Goren – 7 pts, 6 assists
Lenae Williams – 7 pts
Lili Latinovic – 5 pts, 4 assists
Sharon Zeevi 4 pts
Anat Goldberg 3 pts
For Raanana:
Michelle Greco – 31 pts
Ednisha Curry – 18 pts, 5 steals
Alina Morhova 10 pts
Inbal Shnapper 8 pts
Susan Murry 3 pts
Inbar
Vaksman
& Hanna Hileli 2 pts each
Hapoel Petah Tikva 78 – Maccabi Ramat Hen 82
Petah Tikva played great for 36 minutes, but Ramat Hen stayed in
striking
distance through out despite yet another unimpressive road game
performance.
A strong finish by Ramat Hen was enough for them to steal the win.
Right from the start it was clear defense isn’t going to set the tone
in
this game. An up-tempo game developed, and the teams kept the pace up
all
game long. Petah Tikva took advantage of Ramat Hen’s weak defensive
effort
in the 1st and used smart team play to go up 24-19 after 1.
Ramat Hen scored 7 straight to start the 2nd, and held Petah Tikva
scoreless
for 2:30 minutes. Following a timeout the locals responded with a
little run
of their own, and regained a 30-26 lead. The game stayed close till the
break, Molly Creamer found Tiffany Listenbee under the basket for a
lay-up
that sealed the half, tied at 42. Tawona Alhaleem had just 5 points at
this
stage for Ramat Hen, but Plenette Pierson was doing enough damage for
two.
Even in the 3rd, which lately has been Alhaleem’s quarter, she still
couldn’t get it going. Creamer hit a 3 to increase Petah Tikva’s lead
to
52-48, while Ramat Hen was busy turning the ball over. Rivi Grinboym
made it
a six point game, but Ramat Hen tied it 40 seconds later, with 3
minutes
left in the quarter. A coast to coast play by Edwina Brown gave Ramat
Hen
the lead, but Creamer with a 3 and Chanel Wright-Green with an
old-fashioned
3 made it 60-56 in favor of the locals after 3.
Petah Tikva got its biggest lead of 8 points in the 4th, but the game
clock
didn’t cooperate, leaving plenty of time for Ramat Hen to get back in
it.
Two threes by Creamer and one on five plays by Brown helped Petah Tikva
jump
to a 68-60 lead with 7:30 to play. Petah Tikva maintained the gap for
two
minutes, until 4 straight points by Alhaleem cut it to 72-66. Ramat Hen
tightened up the D, and Pierson made it a 4-point game. She scored
again
following a local timeout, and Brown added a 3pt play to make it 74-73
with
under 4 minutes to go.
A huge three by Shira Haelyon tied the game at 76 with 2:30 left, and
on the
other end Wright-Green missed twice from the FT line. She was just 2 of
6 in
the game from the line. Both teams continued to miss opportunities, and
with
52 seconds to go the score was still 76 all. The refs called a moving
screen
on Pierson, but Wright-Green threw a careless out of bounds pass
straight to
Edwina Brown. Brown found Alhaleem who was fouled, and made both. Down
78-76, Wright-Green was called for a travel. Ramat Hen easily scored
off a
backdoor lay-up and made it 80-76. Wright-Green then launched a three
with
13 seconds still left on the game clock and missed badly. Pierson added
two
more from the line, and Ramat Hen’s foul on Creamer which sent her to
shoot
3 from the line didn’t matter as only 0.5 was left to play.
For Ramat Hen:
Plenette Pierson – 26 pts, 21 rebs
Edwina Brown – 16 pts, 5 steals
Tawona Alhaleem – 14 pts, 6 rebs
Ina Boutenko – 10 pts
Shira Haelyon – 8 pts
Naomi Kolodny & Lena Fedulova 4 pts each
For Petah Tikva:
Molly Creamer – 26 pts (6 of 8 3pt FGs), 5 assists
Tiffany Listenbee – 21 pts, 6 rebs
Chanel Wright-Green – 12 pts, 7 rebs
Rivi Grinboym – 8 pts, 6 assists
Taly Noy – 8 pts, 4 assists
Hapoel Haifa Motzkin 101 – Elizur Holon 58
A walk in the park for Motzkin, they’re already thinking about the
Ramat
Hasharon game on Thursday.
For Haifa/Motzkin:
Lynn Pride - 22 pts, 13 rebs
Laine Selwyn - 22 pts
Lena Mustafina – 21 pts
Nakia Sanford – 16 pts
Crystal Givens – 8 pts
For Holon:
Aja Brown - 18 pts, 7 rebs
Kristina Covington 12 pts
Shala Reese 8 pts
Einav Asolin 7 pts
Bnei Yehuda 78 – Maccabi Ashdod 60
Without the injured Ebony Tanner, Ashdod was no match for Bnei Yehuda.
For Bnei Yehuda:
DeTrina White 16 pts
Kelley Gibson 15 pts
Leigh Aziz
12
pts
Tali Klain 10 pts
For Ashdod:
Sarit Arbel 21 pts
Kenya Larkin & Jo Ruth Woods 12 pts
each
Vika Rudovski 5 pts
ASA Jerusalem 64 – Elizur Ramla 91
Another week, another blowout.
For Ramla:
Amber Hall 21 pts
Monika Veselovski 20 pts
Ayana Walker 16
pts
Nili Nataho 13 pts
Liron Cohen 11 pts
Ina Gourevitch 4 pts
For Jerusalem:
Tiana Rus 17 pts
Telisha Quarles 13 pts
Valerie
Muoneke &
Ivana Tuvic 12 pts each
Round 7’s MVP: Plenette Pierson
A massive double double by Pierson with 26 points and 21 rebounds
carried
Ramat Hen to victory in Petah Tikva. Pierson dominated under the
baskets and
kept Ramat Hen in the game when nothing was really working. Thanks to
her
play Ramat Hen was still in good enough position for a late mini
comeback.
Round 7’s First Team
Molly Creamer – In her best game this season, Creamer stroked six
threes out
of eight attempts, on her way to 26 points. She added five assists but
eventually it wasn’t enough for Petah Tikva who let the game slip away.
Gunta Basko – Ramat Hasharon’s Ace had a terrific 3rd quarter that
broke the
game open for them. Finished with 20 pts & 9 rebs.
Michelle Greco – Had a quiet but impressive debut game, as quiet as
31-point
games get anyway. She’s going to score a lot more points in this
league.
Plenette Pierson – Superb game with season highs both in and rebounds.
DeTrina White – Out of Bnei Yehuda’s 3 Americans, White was the lesser
known
one but so far, she’s the one that shows up every game and gives a
tremendous fight under the baskets. She had 16 pts vs. Ashdod.
Safsal's Player Of The Month - Shay Doron
Novmeber's player of the month is Shay Doron. Gunta Basko & Amber Hall
had
very good cases but we decided to go with Doron, who got her college
career
off to a record breaking start. She's averaging 16.5 points, 3 boards,
3
assists and 2 steals per game in 24 minutes for the Maryland
Terrapins.
Doron, who tied an NCAA record with 23 made free throws in her first
game,
was also named the ACC's freshmen of the week. This could be the start
of a
marvelous college career.
The Standings:
1. Elizur Ramla 7-0
2. Bnei Yehuda 6-1
3. Maccabi Ramat Hen 5-2
4. Ramat Hasharon 5-2
5. Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 5-2
6. Hapoel Petah Tikva 3-4
7. Maccabi Raanana 2-5
8. Maccabi Ashdod 1-6
9. ASA Jerusalem 1-6
10. Elizur Holon 0-7