Ramat Hen qualified to the finals for the first time in team history,
after
completing the unexpected sweep over Haifa/Motzkin. In the other semi,
Amber
Hall returned to the court and Ramla dominated.
Maccabi Ramat Hen 67 - Hapoel Haifa/Motzkin 65
Ramat Hen led by 18 at the half, but Motzkin scored 30 points in the
3rd
quarter compared to 35 in the other 3 combined. The finish was close
and
nerve wrecking, like we’ve become accustomed to from these two teams.
Edwina
Brown scored the game winning basket with a spin move to the hole, with
2
seconds left.
Its kind of absurd that this series came to an end while Ramla still
hasn’t
clinched a place in the finals, but Ramat Hen deserve all the credit.
They
looked like a team on a mission from game 1, and in the other 2 they
proved
they know very well how to win close games. Haifa/Motzkin also deserve
a big
up for a great year. Stings to see them go out like this but they paid
for
that double OT win over Ramat Hen in the cup in game 1, and lost the
other
two by a total of 3 points.
Motzkin, led by Lynn Pride, got off to a good start and was up 10-4,
after
four minutes. Ramat Hen answered with 2 threes to tie it and added 2
more
from downtown to lead 22-17 after 1. Ramat Hen’s momentum carried on to
the
2nd, they led 30-17 after a 13-0 run. The gap was 41-23 at the break.
Nothing was working for Motzkin, good shots rolled out, unforced errors
led
to Ramat Hen fastbreaks and Pride, who scored 11 pts in the first on
perfect
shooting, hardly touched the ball and added just 2 more in the 2nd.
Tawona
Alhaleem led Ramat Hen with 12 pts on 4/5 from the field.
Unlike in game 1, when Ramat Hen ran over Motzkin in the 2nd half as
well,
the visitors came back determined. Rinat Zaltz-Levin was the
difference,
scoring 10 points in the quarter after sitting out the entire first
half.
Crystal Givens scored 6 quick ones for Motzkin, and Zaltz-Levin hit a 3
to
cut the lead to single-digits, 50-41, with under 5 minutes left in the
3rd.
Motzkin played strong defense and Plenette Pierson picked up her 4th
foul
and had to sit down. Lena Mutstafina’s only 3 of the game made it just
54-53, with 44 seconds to play. Ramat Hen added 4 more points from the
line
and Brown scored at the buzzer to set the score at 60-53 after 3.
Motzkin
would’ve probably signed on a 7-point game after 3 if asked at the
half, but
after cutting it to 1 they had to be disappointed.
The pressure was felt on both sides in the 4th. It took Ramat Hen about
3
minutes and 3 offensive rebounds to score the quarter’s first points,
but
Zaltz-Levin kept Motzkin in it with a big 3 and they trailed 62-57,
with 6
minutes left. Motzkin missed quite a few chances and trailed 64-60,
with 4
to go. Neither team could get a basket but with 1:18 left Givens was
fouled.
Despite being one of the best free throw shooters in the league, Givens
made
just 1 of 2. Motzkin missed 5 free throws in the game.
Brown missed a jumper at the other end and Mustafina cut it to 64-63,
but
Selwyn sent Alhaleem to the line. She made 1 of 2 and Pride tied the
game
with 16 seconds left. Motzkin held Ramat Hen to 5 points in the quarter
up
until this point, and so they chose to trust their D and not foul.
Edwina
Brown however, knew very well what could happen when you let Motzkin
force
overtime. She wasn’t going to settle for no jumpers. Her aggressive
move to
the hoop gave Ramat Hen the lead back and Motzkin had 2 seconds to go
the
full length of the court. The inbound quarterback pass was intercepted
and
Ramat Hen began celebrating led by Pierson’s dancing.
For Ramat Hen
Tawona Alhaleem – 20 pts (6/11 FGs, 5/6 FTs), 8 rebs
Edwina Brown – 17 pts (6/12 FGs, 5/6 FTs), 7 rebs, 5 assists
Plenette Pierson – 15 pts (7/15 FGs, 1/3 FTs), 4 rebs, 5 steals
Ornit Shwartz – 8 pts (2/5 3pt FGs, 2/2 FTs)
Shira Haelyon 5 pts, Nomi Kolodny 2 pts
For Haifa/Motzkin
Lynn Pride – 19 pts (9/12 FGs, 1/1 FT), 9 rebs
Rinat Zaltz-Levin – 15 pts (3/3 2pt FGs, 3/4 3pt FGs)
Crystal Givens – 14 pts, 8 rebs
Lena Mustafina – 9 pts
Laine Selwyn – 8 pts, 4 steals
Elizur Ramla 73 – Ramat Hasharon 58
Party’s over kids, mom’s home. That’s basically the message Amber Hall
sent
to Ramat Hasharon as she stepped onto the court with about 5 minutes
remaining in the 1st quarter and the score tied at 10. The doctors
cleared
Hall to play when it turned out that there was nothing broken in her
left
hand. Hall made some shots with her right, some with her heavily taped
left,
but mainly rebounded like only she can and made everyone around her
better.
Ramla finished the 1st quarter up 27-18, and led 39-31 at the break.
Ramla
broke away in the 2nd half, with the biggest lead reaching 22 in the
4th.
Hall should start Thursday in game 4, so don’t expect to see that Ramla
team
which failed to break 60 in game 2 for the first time in over 2 years
and
lost.
For Ramla:
Ayana Walker – 22 pts, 12 rebs, 3 blocks, 3 steals
Ina Gourevitch 14 pts
Monika Veselovski 11 pts
Amber Hall – 9 pts, 15 rebs
For Ramat Hasharon:
Gunta Basko – 23 pts
Aluma Goren – 11 pts, 7 assists
Gwen Jackson and Lidiya Varbanova 11 pts each