Maccabi Ramat Hen 81 – Elizur Ramla 90
Ramla achieved the goal it set out to get from day 1 of the season,
with a
win in game 4 which completes their first ever double – cup &
championship.
Ramla was the favorite all along, but nothing went easy for them in the
playoffs. It never does, in this league. Ramla was definitely the best
team
in the league this season, they earned this championship but most of
all,
the title belongs to the one and only, Amber Hall. Hall overcame the
pain in
her injured left hand and was simply unstoppable in the finals,
averaging
17.5 ppg and 16.5 rpg.
A lot of credit goes out to Ramat Hen, for a wonderful season and a
terrific
finals series, the first in club history. They gave Ramla 4 tough
games, and
became the first and only team to win in Ramla, even though people were
counting them out before the series started. In game 4 however, it
wasn’t
looking good right from the start. Edwina Brown played with a 103
degree
fever, you could tell how bad she wanted to win but the illness took
its
toll. After averaging 8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 3.3 steals and only 2
turnovers in the finals, Brown had 4 boards, 2 steals and one assist to
go
along with 8 turnovers in the game but gave it her all and helped Ramat
Hen
make it a 4 point game in the final minute before Ramla pulled away.
Plenette Pierson was her usual awesome self despite Ramla’s efforts to
limit
her shots, and Tawona Alhaleem was unstoppable with 27 points. Ramla
made
the free throws down the stretch to secure the win and destroy the
local
comeback hopes.
The game was close early on, but Ramla was dictating the pace. Ramat
Hen was
turning it over against the strong Ramla defense and trailed 17-10
following
Walker’s 3pt play with 2 minutes left in the quarter. Alhaleem and
Pierson
cut the deficit to 19-16 after 1.
Ramla regained the momentum in the 2nd quarter, with a 6-0 run. Ramat
Hen
got its first basket courtesy of Pierson off an offensive rebound, 3
minutes
into the quarter. Ramla kept making life miserable for Ramat Hen with
the D
and Hall was finishing under the basket, 31-20 for Ramla with 4 minutes
left. Brown sealed the half with a basket at the buzzer and Ramat Hen
was
only down 35-28 after a terrible first half.
Ramat Hen made it a 5 point game early in the 3rd, but Zakula and
Veselovski
immediately pushed it back to 10. Ramat Hen was having a hard time
getting
the ball inside to Pierson, and another 3 by Veselovski made it 48-36.
Ramla’s biggest lead was 13, but Ornit Shwartz hit Ramat Hen’s first 3
of
the game to spark a run. Pierson and Alhaleem combined for 10 points in
the
last 3:30 minutes of the quarter and Ramla’s lead shrunk to 53-50 after
3.
Ramla was quick to hush the crowd in the 4th. Zakula with a fastbreak
layup,
Hall with a steal and Gourevitch & Veselovski with baskets forced a
Ramat
Hen timeout, down 59-50 with 8:30 left. Brown turned it over for the
3rd
straight time after the timeout, and Hall made it an 11-point game.
Ramat
Hen eventually got on the board in the 4th but Veselovski with yet
another 3
set the score at 65-54, with over 5 minutes to go. Ramat Hen didn’t
give up,
cut it to 65-58 but Brown missed a shot she always makes and guess
what,
Veselovski for 3. Hall then went coast to coast for a layup and the
game
looked over, 70-58 with 4:10 to play.
Ramla wasn’t phased by Ramat Hen’s press, Alhaleem scored 2 from the
line to
make it 73-64 with 2:30 left. Ramat Hen got a stop, Alhaleem made a
quick
basket and Pierson added another one following Ramla’s turnover. Then
it was
Brown’s turn to go to the line, she hit 6 free throws in a row and the
lead
was just 77-72, with 1:10 to go. Hall picked up her 5th foul, and took
a
seat for the first time in the series. Her teammates got the job done
from
the line. Alhaleem with another quick drive and Brown with 2 more from
the
line made it just 80-76, with 52 seconds left. Ramat Hen couldn’t get
the
stop it needed, as the refs kept calling fouls. Pierson and Alhaleem
fouled
out in a span of 7 seconds, as the game clock showed under 40. Ramla
hit
from the line and held on.
Zakula led Ramla’s balanced attack with 23 points, in one of her best
games
in Israel. Ramla cracked open the champagne as the buzzer went off, but
it
was very nice to see Amber Hall heading over first to the Ramat Hen
bench to
congratulate them for a great series. Then she was off to cut down some
nets.
For Ramla:
Dragoslava Zakula – 23 pts (5/9 FGs, 13/17 FTs), 2 steals
Amber Hall – 20 pts (8/16 FGs), 12 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals
Monika Veselovski – 18 pts (3/6 2pt FGs, 4/4 3pt FGs), 3 steals
Ina Gourevitch – 12 pts, 4 steals
Ayana Walker – 10 pts (4/8 FGs), 11 rebs
Liron Cohen – 7 pts
For Ramat Hen
Tawona Alhaleem – 27 pts (10/14 2pt FGs, 0/3 3pt FGs, 7/10 FTs)m 5
revs, 3
assists
Plenette Pierson – 24 pts (11/13 FGs, 2/2 FTs), 10 rebs
Edwina Brown – 21 pts (4/14 FGs, 12/13 FTs), 2 steals
Ornit Shwartz – 7 pts (2/7 FGs)
Shira Haelyon 2 pts