Hapoel Holon returned to the winning track last night (Sunday) after beating Hapoel Galil Alyion 73:83 at Hichal Toto with the help of a wonderful game by Joe Ragland, who led with 25 points.
Great minutes by Chris Johnson and Joe Ragland in the second quarter and a strong defense by the champions put them out to an early 20-point lead.
The guest from Kfar Blum did not break and with the help of her own impressive run in the last quarter managed to reduce the difference to only three points, but Ragland prevented the turnaround in a wonderful game.
"We started the game well and showed a lot of character to win a game against a team that had good momentum," started Guy Goodes.
"We all want to win, but we've lost some tough games recently and they were down to some little things, rebounds and the like, but we have to learn from that and move on.
Itai Moshkovitz looks for himself in the defensive defense, photo: Oded Karni
"We had a lot of games in the last month plus including flights, but now we have a little break and we will do what we need to do in order to be ready for Hapoel Jerusalem away," added Goodes.
The club praised the performance of Chris Johnson, who had not practiced in the last few days and came up to play sick, alongside Ragland's rise in the decisive moments once again.
"I just wanted to be aggressive at that moment, make sure I got the best shot for my team, whether it's me or my teammates. They deserve credit because they've been a good team since they were in the first division. They had a five-game winning streak.
"Also, they had moments where they were going to fight back and make it a game, but I'm glad we won the game."
The club set as a goal on the eve of the game to stop the steps of the expected captain Nimrod Levy and so they did. The forward was satisfied with 4 points, 3 of 13 from the field, and a weighted index of minus-30, which made it easier for the champion on the way to another home victory.
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