It was a playoff game from the first moment to the last.
With offenses, physical struggles, drama and momentum changes.
In the end, Hapoel Rishon LeZion came out on top. Ziv Erez's players defeated Elitzur Neve David Ramla 69:72 away, compared the playoff semifinal series to 2: 2 and forced a decisive fifth game in the city of wine this coming Monday (18: 30 live broadcast in Sports 5 Plus).
Rishon Lezion started the game great and went up to a fairly quick 3:10 advantage, when the feeling was that the trophy holder came more determined than ever not only to force a fifth game in the series but also to make a point about her ability to play with her back to the wall.
Alyssa Baron suffered two quick offenses and the matter was even more difficult for Ramla, but as the minutes passed, things began to balance out.
The second offense that was blamed on Sims' duty, back in the first quarter, caused the Rishon LeZion star to be more careful in the defensive game, and a lack of coordination in collecting the returning balls allowed Ramla to bite the difference. Only 19:21 for the visitors at the end of the first quarter.
Emma Cannon with the Ball, Photo: Courtesy of the Director of the Women's Basketball Premier League
The second quarter opened as a direct continuation of the first.
Ramla went into the zone, Ziv Erez called a timeout, but his team mostly lost its offensive pace, and worse, allowed the Ramla players to get into their own pace.
Crystal Dangerfield completed a makeover and raised the hosts to 21:26.
Rishon's ball loss only piled up, the team slowly went down to the defense, and Ramla's advantage was established when Emma Cannon scored her 14th point in the 14th minute of the game.
Ramla still allowed Rishon LeZion to scrape incidental points and return to the game, but Sims' insistence on walking with his head in the wall prevented the Reds from equalizing and caused the player to commit the third offense.
The critical move of opening the second half was generally defensive and belonged to Courtney Douglas, who stabilized excellently on defense and squeezed from Sims an offense offense (fourth).
Ziv Erez decided to keep his senior player on the field, but he got his main produce from Christie Block and especially from Profit May, who in a big game left Rishon in the game whenever it seemed like he was going to run away from her.
Ramla did everything right, Rishon suffered a foul problem and there was nothing to prevent the Yellows from running away, but a series of errors, innings on the rebound and insistence on each ball arranged for Rishon LeZion to return to the game and a 49:56 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Crystal Dangerfield, Photo: Courtesy of the Director of the Women's Basketball Premier League
The final quarter was an example of a crucial quarter of a playoff series.
The players prostrated themselves on the floor at every opportunity, the loss of the ball multiplied, and with them the mistakes under the baskets.
This digging game played in favor of Ramla, who relied mostly on the points of Dangerfield and Cannon.
But a three by Eden Tzipel, who suddenly injured after long minutes in which she was not in the game, and four Sims points jumped Rishon LeZion to its record advantage - 55:64, less than four minutes to go.
Ramla still made comebacks, mainly thanks to points from the excellent Dangerfield, but the wind in the back of Rishon LeZion could no longer be stopped and a profit - as much as she deserved - was what set the penalty score at 69:72 for Hapoel Rishon. "צ.
Jenny Sims, Photo: Courtesy of the Director of the Women's Basketball Premier League
Scorers for Ramla:
Dangerfield 30, Cannon 20, Hressler 11, Baron 8.
Scorers for Rishon LeZion:
Sims 20, Profit 16, Block 14, Cohen 11, Tzipel 9, Switch 2.
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