Elizur Ramla 78 – Maccabi Ramat Hen 84
Ramat Hen fought Ramla evenly for three halves of basketball, but found
itself down 2-0 in the best-of-5 finals. No team has ever recovered
from
being down 2-0, and Ramla was ready to win the championship. Prior to
tip
off, Ramla’s announcer spent a few minutes thanking team sponsors and
others
for a great season, and spoke of the game as Ramla’s season finale. The
arena was packed with 1,400 screaming fans and hundreds of ticket-less
fans
watching on the screen outside. They were all ready to crack open some
Champaign, but somebody must’ve forgotten to tell that to Ramat Hen.
Ramat Hen crashed Ramla’s party thanks mainly to great performances
from
their three Americans. Pierson put on a clinic of post moves on Ramla’s
big
front court, Alhaleem was aggressive and confident, and Brown was
everywhere. Ramat Hen used a 16-2 run over the last five minutes that
turned
an 8 point hole into a huge win. Monika Veselovski, who was feeling it
from
downtown, hit a three pointer to make it 76-68 with 4:50 to go. But
Ramat
Hen, despite being in the penalty, held Ramla scoreless until Ina
Gourevitch
hit a meaningless layup with 7 seconds to go.
Ramla defended well early on and Ramat Hen’s first basket came 2
minutes
into the game courtesy of Plenette Pierson with 1 on the shot clock.
Amber
Hall & Ayana Walker combined for 3 layups to give Ramla a 6-2 lead with
7:30
to go in the quarter. Ramat Hen then switched to a zone but kept
leaving
Ramla’s best shooter – Monika Veselovski, wide open. She hit two threes
to
give the locals a 12-5 lead. Tawona Alhaleem and Edwina Brown cut it to
12-10, but Ramat Hen got stuck scoreless for 3 minutes and trailed
18-12
after 1. Nobody but Pierson could hit anything for Ramat Hen while
Ramla
swished 4 threes in the quarter, but a bunch of unnecessary turnovers
prevented Ramla from building a big lead.
Pierson, who has really stepped up with 2 great games in 48 hours,
stole the
ball and launched a 90 feet pass to Alhaleem for an easy layup that
helped
her find her rhythm. Ramla was scoreless for 3 minutes, but Veselovski
found
herself open and hit a mid range jumper to give them a 20-15 lead.
Pierson
scored 4 straight to cut the lead again, and Brown tied it at 25 with
3:30
to play in the half. On the other end Amber Hall made three straight
baskets
to give Ramla the lead back. Ornit Shwartz and Alhaleem hit back to
back
threes to give the visitors their first lead of the night at 33-32 with
80
seconds to go in the half. The refs filled the last seconds with a
bunch of
weird calls that annoyed everyone, Liron Cohen hit a jumper to give
Ramla a
36-34 halftime lead, but Ramla had lots of reasons to worry. They drew
twice
as many fouls as they were called for, they hit 5 threes on 50%
shooting,
and were only up 2 points. The reason? Rebounding. Ramla only got 4
more
rebounds than Ramat Hen, and that was key.
Ina Gourevitch committed 2 quick fouls to start the 3rd quarter, and
Nili
Natho took her place. Natho quickly showed that she hadn’t had time to
cool
off and hit 2 threes that raised the roof and made it 46-41. Walker &
Hall
dominated the offensive glass and another three by Natho, who was
simply on
fire, made it a 55-45 lead with 4 minutes to go in the 3rd. The
shootout
continued with a three by Veselovski that gave Ramla the biggest lead
of the
series at 62-49 with 1:40 to play in the quarter. Before the quarter
ended
Shira Haelyon managed to pick up 2 fouls and foul out, and Alhaleem hit
a
three to cut the lead a little. Ramla led 65-56 after 3, and the fans
prepared for the last quarter of the season.
After allowing 29 points in the 3rd quarter, Ramat Hen came out with a
different mind set in the 4th. Alhaleem was driving to the basket and
finishing, Pierson drew an offensive foul, and Nomi Kolodny hit a 3 to
make
it just 70-66 with 6:40 to go. But then Pierson got called for two
fouls in
30 seconds, her 3rd and 4th. She had trouble keeping Hall off the glass
with
such foul trouble, and Hall made it 73-66. Veselovski hit a 3 that made
it
76-68 with 4:50 to play. On Ramat Hen’s next two possessions Alhaleem
turned
it over and committed her 4th foul. Veselovski was heading to the line
for 2
with 3:30 to play and Ramla was starting to reach for the scissors. But
Veselovski must’ve been infected by her FT clanking teammates and
missed
both. Ramla shot just 43% from the line. They gave Ramat Hen another
chance
and this time lived to regret it.
Edwina Brown found Alhaleem who scored 10 in the 4th, for an easy
basket.
Pierson cut it to 2 on a put back. Kolodny with a great steal and a
smart
penetration gave Ramat Hen their first lead of the 2nd half at 78-76
with
2:20 to go. Ramla was settling for tough shots, and Ramat Hen didn’t
allow a
single offensive rebound in the last 5 minutes of the game. Brown made
it
79-76 from the line, and Natho launched an airball on the other end.
Shwartz
also made 1 of 2 from the line, Ramla turned it over and kept fouling.
Ramat
Hen made enough foul shots to secure themselves an incredible win and
destroy Ramla’s perfect 17-0 home record.
Game 4 is on Monday.
For Ramat Hen:
Plenette Pierson – 24 pts (11/17 FGs, 2/5 FTs), 11 rebs, 2 steals
Tawona Alhaleem – 24 pts (6/15 2pt FGs, 3/4 3pt FGs, 3/4 FTs), 2 ast
Edwina Brown – 21 pts (5/11 FGs, 11/13 FTs), 10 rebs, 5 ast, 2 steals
Nomi Kolodny – 9 pts, 2 rebs
Ornit Shwarz – 4 pts
For Ramla:
Monika Veselovski – 21 pts (3/8 2pt FGs, 5/9 3pt FGs, 0/2 FTs)
Nili Natho – 18 pts (5/8 3pt FGs, 3/5 FTs)
Ayana Walker – 16 pts (6/17 FGs, 4/7 FTs), 12 rebs, 2 ast
Amber Hall – 15 pts (6/14 FGs, 3/9 FTs), 17 rebs