Four games were played tonight (Monday) as part of the fifth round of the Women's Premier League, with HaMoked leading Hapoel Rishon LeZion and Maccabi Haifa, when they both reached this round without a loss.
Hapoel Rishon LeZion - Maccabi Haifa 74:84
Hapoel Rishon LeZion is the hottest thing the Athena Winner Women's Basketball League has to offer at the beginning of the 2021/22 season. Haifa, who just like them came to the game with a perfect balance after four league games.
The team from Wine City took over the field just minutes from the opening.
Jenny Sims, apparently the foreigner in the best shape in the league, managed the game of Rishon LeZion and mostly did not force herself on the attack. To go down at the end of the first quarter with a 19:26 advantage.
Rishon LeZion only increased their grip on the game at the start of the second quarter and stopped Haifa by zero points for the first four minutes. , Scoring five of the six shots over the arc. Chelsea Hopkins scored in a rather poor percentage and the green players, who insisted on throwing under the basket, repeatedly encountered a wall that stopped them at 30 points at the half and a 44:30 deficit.
Rishon Lezion continued to increase its advantage in the third quarter, but when it had already reached a gap of 24 points, the slack came.
The visitors' nine consecutive points brought them back into the picture and were 62:47 behind.
Ziv Erez demanded a timeout to maintain the significant advantage towards the last quarter and the flow was indeed stopped.
The teams went up to the last quarter when Rishon LeZion had a 54:68 advantage. Haifa changed tactics and started to press all over the field. The home players were pressed, lost balls and had difficulty making stops on defense. But then came Sims, and like a true leader took over the game. And brought back the gap of Rishon LeZion to a safe range.
It ended in a 74:84 local victory and an unequivocal statement: As of this moment, Hapoel Rishon LeZion has no competition.
Scorers for Rishon LeZion:
Sims 24, Ettinger 18, Block 15, Tzipel 13, Revach 7, Cohen 7.
Scorers for Haifa:
Hopkins 21, Mosby 17, Avod 13, Alon 11, Yugoka 6, Singer 4, Kiuf 2.
Dakia Cohen with the ball, Photo: Courtesy of the director of the Women's Premier League in basketball
Maccabi Girls Ashdod - AS Ramat Hasharon 85:75
With a backlash of three consecutive and convincing victories, Maccabi Ashdod girls came to a difficult test tonight, when they hosted AS Ramat Hasharon. The players from the quintet helped the team from Sharon enter the game and end the first quarter in a particularly close game at 17:17.
The digging game continued into the second quarter as well, with the home team relying almost exclusively on the Victoria Vivians baskets (16 points at the half).
Ramat Hasharon did not hit a single shot out of the seven that took three points and missed an opportunity to open a gap in the first half, which remained close throughout and ended in 34:35 to the credit of the locals.
Ramat Hasharon came back excellent from the half-time break and it seemed that one of the teams was finally taking the lead significantly.
But even when it had already reached a nine-point advantage, the deal was not decided.
Adani Dagan's players tightened the defense, and with some precise attacks and right decisions offset the deficit to only two points: 55:53 at the end of the third quarter.
If in the previous quarter Ramat Hasharon failed to maintain the advantage, then in the last quarter this is exactly what happened.
Ohad Gal's players were precise and very focused on the offensive side, and with the help of the many offenses committed by the Ashdod players towards the end to stop the clock, they reached 30 points in the last quarter only.
Ashdod, for its part, relied only on Vivians' 34 points and once Ramat Hasharon understood the game plan, it was difficult for the local team to change the method and momentum.
It ended in a 75:85 victory for Ramat Hasharon, which for the first time this season connects two consecutive victories.
Scorers for Ashdod:
Vivians 34, Sahar 12, Cohen 11, Penn 8, Dayan 6, Hightower 4.
Scorers for Ramat Hasharon:
Carlton 28, Monroe 18, Walker 16, Vatori 12, Karsh 7, Schuster 2, Rosenblum 2.
Bernice Mosby with the ball, Photo: Courtesy of the director of the Women's Basketball Premier League
Herzliya Girls - Elitzur Tel Aviv 73:85
The Herzliya girls are the only team this season that on the eve of the fifth round has not yet tasted victory, and with this situation Kristin Simon refused to complete.
The team's outstanding foreigner from Sharon opened the game against the newcomer, Elitzur Tel Aviv, and with 17 points in a quarter and a half, she competed mainly with Chiara Leslie and Dionie Carrington, who were the main executors in Daniela Reuven's team.
Trends continued in the second quarter, with the only difference being a significant drop in percentages.
The players from Herzliya scored only 10 points in less than 40 percent of 2 and 3 and allowed Tel Aviv to open a small gap with a break of 34:38.
The Herzliya girls' best quarter of the season came right after the half.
Suddenly the team from Herzliya did not look like one that did not win this season, but rather one that has plans to run at the top.
The team scored no less than 31 points from Sharon (against 19 from Tel Aviv), and in the last quarter came up with a record confidence and a 57:65 advantage.
At the start of the quarter, it seemed that Elitzur Tel Aviv was coming back, that it had another way of saying the last word in the game, but that was just a feeling.
Simon had no intention of giving up the victory yesterday and with the help of her 34 points, Herzliya remained with their heads above water throughout the game.
Elitzur Tel Aviv, which received offensive production from only four players, will have to work on its offensive diversity so as not to get entangled at the bottom. It ended in 73:85 for Herzliya, which can officially start the 21/22 season.
Scorers for Herzliya:
Simon 34, Brown 21, Fleischer 11, Azouri 10, Forbis 5, Pollard 4.
Scorers for Tel Aviv:
Carrington 30, Leslie 20, Smith 12, Zlibansky 11.
Christine Simon with the ball, Photo: Courtesy of the director of the Women's Basketball Premier League
Hapoel Bnei Petah Tikva - Elitzur Holon 88:78
Hapoel Bnei Petah Tikva returned from Haifa on Friday, according to the song's article, with their heads in their hands, after missing an excellent opportunity to beat the table leader on the eve of the round. Elitzur Sigalit Rave Aesthetics Holon, who scored 71 percent in the first quarter, the result was a multi-point game in which the first quarter ended in 24:26 in favor of the visiting team.
Only one team advanced to the second quarter: Hapoel Holon left behind the painful losses to Haifa and Ashdod in recent rounds, and with an amazing percentage to 2 (72) it seemed simply unstoppable.
Britney Jones shot 15 points, Daniel Adams added 11, and even though she scored only one three-pointer (from five attempts) throughout the half, Roy Eisenberg's players went down to the half with a convincing 38:51 advantage against a team that apart from Bell and Jordan Hopper seemed bewildered as the game progressed. Went on and on.
Holon apparently felt that everything was going well for them and allowed itself to get off the gas with the opening of the third quarter.
All five top five players finished it in double digits, the percentages still stood at over 60 to 2 and Daniel Reber and Britney Jones held the important lead.
Despite this, it was a rather meager third quarter, which ended with only 15 points - a matter that Holon could have been punished for if Petah Tikva had not relied almost exclusively on Kanisha Bell. Even Kadija Kiev, who was the league's queen of baskets in the first rounds , Looked tired and finished three quarters with just ten points, leaving her team trailing 66:54 ahead of the closing quarter.
The offensive pace returned in the final quarter but was not there to change the direction the game went.
Holon, in a team game, excellent percentages and 18 rebounds by the excellent Daniel Reber, did not allow the home team to endanger it and marked for itself an important victory - 78:88 that might put it on a new path.
Scorers for Petah Tikva:
Bell 29, Kiev 15, Hopper 14, Givon 8, Hajaj 5, Roth 3, Hadad 2, Yakir 2.
Scorers for Holon:
Boone 23, Jones 22, Adams 16, Raver 16, Hajjaj 11.
Jenna Smith, Photo: Courtesy of the Director of the Women's Basketball Premier League
