Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 88 – Maccabi Ramat Hen 89
Ramat Hen caught fire from behind the arc and got a huge win after a
great
game in Motzkin to go up 2-0 in their best-of-five semi final series.
Following a tight first half Ramat Hen exploded and made a 21-6 run in
the
first five minutes on the 3rd quarter. They built a lead of about 8,
but
Motzkin kept clawing back time after time. The lead was just 87-86 with
51
seconds to play and Ramat Hen threw away an inbound pass. But Motzkin
looked
confused on offense, didn’t get a shot off and wasted 13 seconds before
committing a foul that sent Edwina Brown to the line with 12 seconds to
play. She made one of two, and then got called for a foul that sent
Lena
Mustafina to the line. She tied the game with 8 seconds to play. Nomi
Kolodny brought the ball up for Ramat Hen and went out of bounds, but
one of
the refs called a foul. She made one of two with 5 seconds to play,
Lynn
Pride grabbed the rebound but missed an off balance three at the
buzzer.
Ramat Hen started out well while Motzkin couldn’t get a shot to fall,
but
Plenette Pierson’s two fouls put Motzkin on the line and the lead was
just
7-3. Motzkin’s first basket, courtesy of Crystal Givens who was really
great, sparked a 10-0 local run. Givens scored 7 points in the run and
Motzkin led 17-13 after 1.
Ramat Hen cut it to 19-17, but Pride scored five points in a 10-2 run
that
put Motzkin up 29-19 with 5:30 to go in the half. But Ramat Hen scored
19
more points until halftime. Pride and mainly Givens kept Motzkin in it
offensively, but they couldn’t get stops. Brown with a couple of nice
moves
trimmed the lead to just 42-38 at the half.
Ramat Hen kept showing why they’re the league’s most dangerous
offensive
team in the 2nd half, and needed just 30 seconds to tie the game. Ornit
Shwartz hit a three to give Ramat Hen the lead, and Pride’s 3rd foul
didn’t
help the locals. Pierson took full advantage of Pride’s foul trouble
and was
simply unstoppable in the 3rd quarter. Motzkin settled for outside
shots too
often and quickly paid for it on the other end, as Ramat Hen increased
the
lead to 57-48 with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd.
Motzkin continued to look bad on offense but a three here, a three
there and
a bunch of put backs by Givens & Pride helped them remain close, 65-62
after
three.
In the 4th Motzkin switched to a zone defense and managed to get the
ball
out of Pierson’s hands for almost the whole quarter, but her teammates
made
all their threes. Shwartz and Tawona Alhaleem hit five threes in the
4th and
Motzkin, who chased Ramat Hen through out the half, couldn’t catch up.
Alhaleem nailed her 3rd three of the quarter to make it 77-73. Laine
Selwyn,
who was far from her usual form, cut the lead to 79-77 on a couple of
drives
but Shwartz hit a big three to burst the locals’ momentum. Givens
wasn’t
about to give up as she blocked Brown’s shot on one end and hit two
free
throws on the other to make it just 84-82 with 2:30 to go. The cat and
mouse
game continued until the very last second, and the clock ran out before
Ramat Hen did.
For Ramat Hen:
Plenette Pierson 26 pts
Tawona Alhaleem 24 pts
Edwina Brown 18 pts
Ornit
Shwartz 14 pts
For Motzkin:
Crystal Givens 29 pts
Lynn Pride 17 pts
Lena Mustafina 15 pts
Laine
Selwyn 13 pts
Ramat Hasharon 70 – Elizur Ramla 58
Anyone who needed more proof why Amber Hall is the MVP of the league
got it
in this game. Ramla, who ranked 2nd in the league with 84 points per
game,
struggled to break 60. An off night from Ina Gourevitch and Liron Cohen
a
long with some foul trouble did not help Ramla’s cause, but Ramat
Hasharon
was the better team and played smart to tie the series at 1 a piece.
Hall,
who may have broken her left hand, is doubtful for the remainder of the
series.
The game was tied at 9 with six minutes to go, but then Aluma Goren
took
over with beautiful assists and Ramat Hasharon ran out to a 21-11 lead.
Ramat Hasharon, who managed 24 points in the entire first half of game
1,
led 25-14 after the first quarter.
Ayana Walker scored her 8th point of the game on perfect shooting, but
was
not getting the ball enough as Ramat Hasharon went up 29-16. Monika
Veselovski scored 8 points to make it just a five point game, but Ramat
Hasharon led 40-33 at the half.
Nili Natho started the 2nd half like she finished the 1st, with a
three, but
Ramla was stuck. Ramat Hasharon played aggressive defense and focused
on
Walker, but her teammates were not exactly trying hard to get her the
ball.
Walker, who scored 12 points on 5 for 6 shooting in the 1st half, took
only
5 shots in the 2nd half with most coming off her offensive rebounds.
Ramla
settled for outside shots way too often and hit just 6 of 22 threes.
Ramat
Hasharon increased the lead to 15 and led 58-45 after three. Ramla
couldn’t
get closer than 9 the rest of the way, lost Gourevitch and Veselovski
to
foul trouble, and Ramat Hasharon marched safely to their first win over
Ramla.
For Ramat Hasharon:
Gwen Jackson – 22 pts (8/13 FGs, 6/6 FTs), 7 rebs
Gunta Basko – 18 pts (7/12 FGs, 3/4 FTs), 3 rebs
Lidiya Varbanova – 10 pts, 7 rebs
Natasha Bratzkova – 10 pts
Aluma Goren – 5 pts, 14 assists, 6 rebs
For Ramla:
Monika Veselovski – 16 pts (6/14 FGs, 2/3 FTs)
Ayana Walker – 14 pts (5/11 FGs, 4/4 FTs), 14 rebs, 3 blocks, 3 steals
Nili Natho – 12 pts
Ina Gourevitch & Luda Rom 6 pts each