It took 17 games, but Elizur Ramla has finally been defeated. Hapoel
Petah
Tikva pulled off an incredible upset as they won 83-80. The win, along
with
Raanana’s loss at Jerusalem, clinched Petah Tikva the 6th and final
spot in
the upper playoffs. In another big game Motzkin won in Ramat Hasharon
to
clinch the 3rd spot, and Ramat Hen rolled over Bnei Yehuda.
Hapoel Petah Tikva 83 - Elizur Ramla 80
Petah Tikva has done what no team has done this season. The game was
close
through out, and Ramla led 24-18 after 1 and 46-41 at the half. The
locals
amazingly held Ramla to just 8 points in the 4th quarter and became the
first team to score 80 points against Ramla.
Petah Tikva was up 81-80 with 44 seconds to go and Ramla had a chance
to
take the lead but they quickly turned it over. Petah Tikva managed to
take
41 seconds off the clock in their next possession until Ramla fouled
Molly
Creamer. She hit the big free throws to seal the unbelievable upset.
For Petah Tikva:
Chanel Wright-Green 26 pts, 13 rebs
Jackie Moore 20 pts
Molly Creamer 11 pts
Hila Alenkry 10 pts - including two huge clutch threes
Taly Noy & Rivi Grinboym 8 pts each
For Ramla:
Amber Hall 22 pts
Ayana Walker 21 pts
Ina Gourevitch 17 pts
Ramat Hasharon 67 - Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 72
It was a win or finish 4th situation for both teams, knowing that a 4th
place finish would probably lead to a semi finals meeting with Ramla.
Motzkin raced to a 10 point lead early on but trailed by 7 in the 2nd
half.
Laine Selwyn scored 11 of her 18 points in the 2nd half including 4
free
throws down the stretch that helped Motzkin secure the tough win in a
weird
4th quarter.
Lena Mustafina hit two quick threes and Crystal Givens finished a fast
break
to give the visitors a 10-2 lead, two and a half minutes into the game.
On
the other end Givens took a blow to the jaw from Gunta Basko and left
the
game bleeding. Selwyn & Mustafina made it a 16-6 game, and then Ramat
Hasharon showed up. They made an 8-1 over the last four minutes thanks
mainly to countless offensive rebounds by Gwen Jackson. Motzkin led
17-14
after 1.
Lynn Pride & Selwyn started the 2nd quarter on the bench and watched
Lidiya
Varbanova help Ramat Hasharon to a 19-17 lead. They re-entered and
Motzkin
regained a 24-19 lead. Varbanova kept hitting and tied the game again,
but
Givens made three layups to give her team a 32-29 halftime lead.
Motzkin left their defense in the locker room as Jackson led Ramat
Hasharon
to a 10-0 run and a 39-32 lead with 6:20 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Givens
scored Motzkin’s first points and got the ball rolling for her team
again.
Ramat Hasharon stopped going inside despite Jackson’s efficiency and
their
poor outside shooting. Mustafina and Selwyn hit threes to make it
49-45, and
Motzkin led 49-47 after three quarters.
Selwyn made it 49-53 for Motzkin a minute into the quarter, and then
their
offense started shooting blanks. Basko, who scored 11 points in the
4th,
made a 3 point play to make it a one point game, and Ramat Hasharon
went
into a drought of their own. The teams traded misses for about 3
minutes and
snapped out of their funk at the same time using the same weapon –
threes.
Mustafina hit a three, and Basko replied with Ramat Hasharon’s first
three
of the game after over 10 misses. Pride, Basko again, Adi Kindler and
Tamar
Maoz hit threes as well and Ramat Hasharon was up 63-62 with about 3
minutes
to play.
Ramat Hasharon stopped hitting, Motzkin made just 3 of 6 foul shots and
led
65-63 with under 2 minutes to go. Pride increased the lead to 4,
Jackson
missed a layup on the other end and Ramat Hasharon was forced to start
fouling. They got no closer than 4 the rest of the way.
For Motzkin:
Lena Mustafina -19 pts (5/12 FGs)
Crystal Given – 18 pts (9/14 FGs)
Laine Selwyn - 18 pts (6/11 FGs, 4/7 FTs), 6 rebs, 7 ast, 2 steals
Lynn Pride - 12 pts (4/11 FGs, 3/6 FTs), 11 rebs, 4 steals, 3 ast
For Ramat Hasharon:
Gwen Jackson - 16 pts (8/13 FGs), 12 rebs (8 offensives!)
Lidiya Varbanova - 16 pts (7/9 FGs, 2/3 FTs), 6 rebs, 2 ast
Gunta Basko - 15 pts (11 in 4th quarter), 9 rebs, 3 ast
Aluma Goren – 9 pts (4/12 FGs), 9 ast
ASA Jerusalem 86 - Maccabi Raanana 84 OT
Raanana had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and lost in
overtime
to the struggling Jerusalem who hasn’t won in 2 months. Jerusalem led
by 14
at the half, Raanana fought back to force the overtime but the locals
held
on at the end. Raanana also hasn’t won in 2 months if we ignore the
Holon
game, and lost 5 of 6 games ever since they released Michelle Greco.
For Jerusalem:
Tijana Rus - 25 pts
Ivana Tuvic - 22 pts
Telisha Quarles – 16 pts
For Raanana:
Michelle Smith - 27 pts
Inbal Shnapper - 18 pts
Ednisha Curry - 16 pts
Bnei Yehuda 59 - Maccabi Ramat Hen 94
Ramat Hen stormed out to a 25-4 lead after the 1st quarter, and held
Bnei
Yehuda without a field goal for 13 minutes. The win clinched the 2nd
place
for Ramat Hen.
For Ramat Hen:
Tawona Alhaleem - 29 pts
Edwina Brown - 16 pts
Plenette Pierson -14 pts
Ornit Shwartz & Mierav Dori 9 pts each
For Bnei Yehuda:
DeTrina White - 21 pts
Leigh Aziz - 19 pts
Erin Thorn - 13 pts
Maccabi Ashdod 91 - Elizur Holon 68
With their 17th straight loss, Holon is officially relegated (again).
For Ashdod:
Lenae Williams - 20 pts
Hen Shtain - 19 pts
For Holon:
Sivan Balalis – 16 pts
Kristina Covington 14 pts
Round 17’s MVP – Chanel Wright Green
Facing one of the best frontcourts ever, who have consistently shut
down the
league’s top posts, Wright Green stepped up big time with an impressive
26 &
13 double-double. Petah Tikva’s guards were not having a very good day
but
Wright Green didn’t back down and held her team in it all through the
close
game.
Round 17’s First Team:
Laine Selwyn – Selwyn didn’t get off to a good start but hit two threes
that
stopped Ramat Hasharon’s run in the 3rd quarter and nailed big free
throws
at the end. She finished with 18 pts, 6 rebs and 7 assists.
Tijana Rus – Led Jerusalem with a season high 25 points in their
surprising
overtime win against Raanana.
Crystal Givens – Givens kept Motzkin in it when Ramat Hasharon tried to
pull
away and scored 18 points on great shooting.
Jackie Moore – Until now, Gwen Jackson was the only post to reach 20
points
against Ramla and she had lots of garbage time to do it. Petah Tikva
needed
every one of Moore’s 20 points to become the 1st team to beat Ramla.
The Standings:
1) Ramla 16-1
2) Ramat Hen 13-4
3) Haifa/Motzkin 13-4
4) Ramat Hasharon 11-6
5) Bnei Yehuda 10-7
6) Petah Tikva 8-9
7) Raanana 6-11
8) Ashdod 4-13
9) Jerusalem 4-13
10) Holon 0-17