Round 23 was the last round of the season. An update with the final
stat
leaders and season awards is coming soon.
Haifa/Motzkin hosted Ramat Hasharon with the 3rd place on the line, and
won
after a close and nerve wrecking game. Motzkin will now face 2nd place
Ramat
Hen in a best-of-five semi finals series, while Ramat Hasharon will
have to
slug it out with Ramla. In other games, Ramat Hen lost a meaningless
game at
Bnei Yehuda, while Ramla squeezed out a tough win in Petah Tikva.
Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 74 - Ramat Hasharon 69
In three big games between these teams this year, Motzkin came out on
top.
Yesterday they put an end to a 4 game losing streak with their biggest
win
of the season. Motzkin led through out most of the game and Laine
Selwyn put
them up eight with 2 minutes to go, but Ramat Hasharon made a 6-1 run
to cut
it to 72-69 with 9 seconds to play. Crystal Givens iced it for the
locals
with 2 free throws with 2.7 seconds to play.
It started with a 6-2 Ramat Hasharon run, but Lynn Pride � who was
spectacular in the 1st quarter � led Motzkin to a 12-2 run to give them
a
14-8 lead with four minutes to play in the 1st. Ramat Hasharon, the
league�s
worst three point shooting team, finished the quarter with three threes
but
Pride made sure Motzkin stays ahead, 19-17.
Selwyn scored her first points in the second quarter, and was Motzkin�s
key
the rest of the way. She made a 3 point play to make it 22-19, but
Tamar
Maoz scored 5 straight to give the visitors a 24-22 lead. Selwyn got
her
team some momentum with 7 points in a 9-1 Motzkin run that made it
35-27
with 3:40 to play in the half. Gunta Basko and Gwen Jackson, who was
not
getting any touches, left for the bench with 2 fouls each and then
Ramat
Hasharon finally decided to go inside. Lidiya Varbanova scored their
last
six points and Motzkin didn�t add another field goal in the quarter,
but
they still led 38-31 at the half.
Ramat Hasharon went inside to Jackson for about 30 seconds, she drew a
foul
and scored 3 points, but didn�t see the ball again till the 4th. After
getting to the line just 3 times in the 1st half Ramat Hasharon was
starting
to get the calls, but shot a terrible 50% from the line for the game
and
Motzkin maintained the gap, 47-39. Basko hit another three to spark a
7-2
run, and it was just 49-46. Adan Inbar called for time out with about 4
minutes to play in the quarter, and Selwyn responded again. She handed
Rinat
Zalts a great assist and scored 4 points as Motzkin regained momentum.
Zalts
with a smart pass set up Pride, who she didn�t hit since the 1st
quarter,
for a much needed layup. Motzkin led 58-48 after three.
It was starting to look over, but Ramat Hasharon didn�t let Motzkin
keep
those smiles up for long. Jackson scored 5 in an 8-2 visitors run that
made
it 60-56 with about 6 minutes to play. Motzkin was starting to stress
out,
and Basko hit another three to make it just a three point game. Lena
Mustafina and Lynn Pride carried Motzkin on an 11-4 run to make it
71-63
with 2 minutes to go. Jackson, who scored 11 of her 14 points in the
4th,
brought Ramat Hasharon right back into it but they made too many
mistakes at
crunch time and lost to the team who wanted it more.
For Motzkin:
Lynn Pride � 17 pts, 13 rebs, 2 ast
Lena Mustafina � 17 pts
Laine Selwyn � 18 pts (6/11 FGs, 5/7 FTs), 5 ast, 5 stl
Crystal Givens � 10 pts, 5 rebs
For Ramat Hasharon:
Gunta Basko � 16 pts (6/14 FGs), 2 steals
Gwen Jackson - 14 pts (5/10 FGs), 8 rebs
Aluma Goren � 13 pts, 4 rebs
Lidiya Varbanova � 12 pts, 8 rebs
Tamar Maoz � 10 pts
Hapoel Petah Tikva 64 � Elizur Ramla 68
By Lior Klinger
Maybe the champs from Ramat Hasharon should ask Petah Tikva to take
their
place in the semi finals. On second thought, there�s no point cause
Ramla
would never agree.
Petah Tikva played Ramla as equals for seven quarters this season, and
most
teams in the league would probably need five games to try and match
that.
Petah Tikva has beaten Ramla 83-80 in round 17, and last night they
looked
them straight in the eye and were in a great position to win. Other
than a
slow 2nd quarter, Petah Tikva won the other three quarters but shot
themselves in the foot with a terrible day from the free throw line (8
for
19), too many missed layups and 23 turnovers. Coach Yariv Daromi, who
took
over mid season, deserves lots of credit for taking a 4-7 team who
looked on
its way to the 7-10 games and making them the giant slayers of the
upper
playoffs.
This game meant nothing to Ramla, and it wasn�t one of their best, but
they
don�t do losing and never considered taking a night off. Ina Gourevitch
twisted her ankle and missed 10 minutes in the 2nd half, Monika
Veselovski
who scored 10 in the 1st half fouled out in the 2nd, but Ramla did just
enough to win. Petah Tikva trailed 13-7 early on but led 20-19 after
the
first quarter.
Ramla played great defense in the 2nd quarter and used a 14-2 run to
open a
36-24 lead. Veselovski hit a three to make it a 13 point game, and
Ramla led
39-29 at the half. Petah Tikva remained aggressive on both ends of the
court
in the 3rd and Ramla found themselves in the penalty after just three
minutes. Petah Tikva unfortunately wasted too many free throws, but
they
muscled their way to 10 offensive rebounds, played tough D and cut the
lead
to 47-43 with three minutes to play in the 3rd. Liron Cohen hit two
threes
in a 10-4 Ramla run to finish the quarter, and the lead was back to 10.
Petah Tikva quickly erased the gap with a three from Grinboym and
baskets
from Chanel Wright-Green and Taly Noy. Tal Natan called a timeout with
his
team up just 57-55 with 7 minutes to go, and things continued to head
south
for him as Veselovski fouled out with six minutes to go. Before the
foul she
managed to score, but Molly Creamer who came back in after sitting with
4
fouls answered right back. Amber Hall dished to Gourevitch for a big
three
which made it 66-58 with 4 minutes to go.
Petah Tikva wouldn�t back down and despite having three players with
four
fouls each on the floor, allowed Ramla just one more field goal the
rest of
the way. On the other end they missed so many chances, but Jackie Moore
&
Wright-Green managed to cut it to 68-64 with 40 seconds to play. Noy
sent
Zakula to the line and she missed twice, but Moore tried to dribble on
the
other end and lost the ball on Petah Tikva�s last possession.
For Ramla:
Ayana Walker - 16 pts, 8 rebs
Amber Hall � 14 pts, 12 rebs
Monika Veselovski � 12 pts
Ina Gourevitch � 9 pts
Nili Natho & Liron Cohen 6 pts each
For Petah Tikva:
Jackie Moore � 16 pts, 6 rebs, 9 TOs
Chanel Wright-Green � 15 pts, 8 rebs
Rivi Grinboym � 13 pts
Molly Creamer � 12 pts, 4 ast, 4 steals
Taly Noy � 5 pts
Bnei Yehuda 73 � Maccabi Ramat Hen 72
The game meant nothing to Ramat Hen and it showed. Aziz and White led
Bnei
Yehuda to a sweet win to end their great season.
For Bnei Yehuda:
DeTrina White � 30 pts, 11 rebs, 4 steals
Leigh Aziz � 19 pts, 9 rebs
Erin Thorn � 16 pts, 6 rebs, 3 ast
For Ramat Hen:
Edwina Brown & Ornit Shwartz 17 pts each
Plenette Pierson 12 pts, 7 rebs, 3 steals
Tawona Alhaleem 10 pts
7-10 Games
Jerusalem 88 � Ashdod 76
Tijana Rus scored 31 for the winners, Lenae Williams had 18 for the
losers.
Raanana was awarded a technical victory over Holon who weren�t allowed
to
play since they owe money to a former player.
Round 23�s MVP � Laine Selwyn
Scored all 18 of her points in the last three quarters, and was there
for
Motzkin every time Ramat Hasharon threatened the lead. Selwyn added 5
assists and 4 steals in Motzkin�s critical win.
Round 23�s First Team
Laine Selwyn � Motzkin�s floor general wouldn�t let her team lose in a
great
game.
Lena Mustafina � She didn�t have a good shooting day, but Mustafina
came up
big at the end scoring seven of her 17 points in the 4th quarter.
DeTrina White � White abused Ramat Hen�s front court with 30 points and
11
rebounds in Bnei Yehuda�s victory.
Amber Hall � Hall stole the ball on Petah Tikva�s last possession with
15
seconds to go with her team up four, and made sure they won�t slip up
again.
Hall finished with 14 points and 12 boards.
Leigh Aziz � Bnei Yehuda�s center finished off a great season with 19
points
and 9 rebounds vs. the 2nd ranked Ramat Hen.
The Israeli Cup games are next week, and the playoff semi finals start
in
two weeks.
On Monday Ashdod will play Ramla and Motzkin will play Ramat Hen in the
cup
Semis. The winners will meet in the finals on Thursday.
The Final Standings:
1. Ramla 22-1
2. Ramat Hen 17-6
3. Haifa/Motzkin 15-8
4. Ramat Hasharon 14-9
5. Bnei Yehuda 12-11
6. Petah Tikva 10-13
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7. Raanana 10-11
8. Jerusalem 6-15
9. Ashdod 5-16
10. Holon 0-21