Galil/Gilboa 79-Maccabi Haifa Heat 72 (2/3/2009)

Gilboa/Galil snagged an important 79-72 away win from Maccabi Haifa Heat, keeping itself in the playoff picture, and raining on the debut of Haifa acquisitions Malik Dixon and Cheyne Gadson. Haifa seemed in control of the game until the final quarter, taking a 59-52 lead into the final period.

However, Galil's perimeter game shifted gears down the stretch, allowing forward Brian Randle to penetrate more easily, as the offense produced 27 fourth quarter points. On defense, big man Brad Buckman adjusted along with Randle to set up an aerial defense that shut down Haifa's Brooks Sales and Ido Kozikaro.
In the league's second contest last night, Maccabi Rishon Letzion dogged host Hapoel Holon for over 45 minutes but fell apart in the second overtime, losing 107-106. The underdogs had trailed by as much as nine points late in the third quarter, but the State Cup champs could not put away their weaker opponent.

Rishon Letzion tied the game at 80-80 at the end of regulation on a prayer of a basket by DeMarco Johnson, then repeated the feat in the waning seconds of the first overtime. After Holon ran off the first six points, Johnson brought Rishon back. With three ticks left, Robert Conley rebounded Johnson's errant free throw and stuck the ball back in the hole to knot the game at 92-apiece.

In the second OT, it was Rishon's turn to reel off the first six points, but then the visitors lost their steam. Holon stormed back as two free throws by Luis Flores put Holon ahead for good with 8.7 seconds left.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 82-Hapoel Holon 75 (23/2/2009)

Maccabi Haifa gained a small measure of revenge over Hapoel Holon on Monday night, defeating the new State Cup holder 82-75, four days after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the cup final at the Nokia Arena.

By winning for the seventh time in its last nine BSL games, Haifa has cemented third place in the standings and is very well placed to claim home-court advantage in the playoffs.

"This victory slightly sweetens the cup final loss," Haifa forward Moshe Mizrahi said.

"It would have been easiest to drop our heads after the cup final, but this is sports and you need to know how to keep looking ahead and concentrate on your remaining goals."

Davon Jefferson led Haifa with 24 points and 10 rebounds, with Mizrahi adding 21 points for Maccabi, which also got 11 points and 12 boards from captain Ido Kozikaro.

Deron Washington scored 24 points and took nine rebounds for Holon, with Chris Watson and Curtis Withers scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively.

"We've gone through some very intensive days and we really wanted to come back down to earth," Holon coach Danny Franco said.

"The players were slightly over eager and Haifa played better than us and deserved to win."

Holon opened the game with a 10-2 run, but Haifa came right back and led by 11 points at one stage (31-20).

The first half ended tied at 40-40 and the teams still couldn't be separated entering the final 10 minutes (62-62).

The contest remained tight until the final minute, but Amit Ben-David's three-pointer with 32 seconds to play opened a six-point margin (79-73), from which there was no coming back for the hosts.

Hapoel Holon 69-Maccabi Haifa Heat 68 (20/2/2009)

Hapoel Holon won its first ever State Cup last night 69-68 over the Maccabi Haifa Heat on a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the corner by guard Brian Tolbert.

A crowd of some 10,000 at Tel Aviv's Yad Eliyahu Arena took in the battle between the two Cinderella-story teams which just a few seasons ago would have seemed improbable competitors for the Premier League title.

Last season Holon surprised parquet pundits and fans alike by stealing the league championship from Maccabi Tel Aviv 73-72 at the perennial winner's home court.
Haifa had been out of the top division for the decade before this season, and last night marked its first Cup final appearance in nearly a quarter century.

The two upstarts seemed like a perfectly even match in the first quarter, as Deron Washington led the charge for Holon and Brooks Sales took control for Haifa. Neither team was able to take the upper hand, and the game remained locked at 18 at the end of the first quarter.

Holon's offense faltered in the second period, and Haifa lost no time in exploiting its opponent's weakness for a 9-0 run. A pair of three-pointers from point man Amit Ben David widened the lead further, and Haifa led by nine going into the third.

After the half, ex-Haifa forward Uri Kokia converted a steal into an easy layup. The "heat" in the third quarter belonged almost entirely to Holon, which embarked on a 14-2 run capped by a trio of three-pointers from guard Luis Flores, giving it a 55-51 lead before the final quarter.

Haifa kept fighting in the fourth, as California-bred big man Devon Jefferson nailed a jumper in the paint to bring the Heat within four, and a Gur Porat three skimmed the lead to a single point.

Haifa finally took the lead on a B.J. McKie jumper with less than a minute to go, but its margin remained razor-thin as the clock wound down, as foul shots from both sides of the court prevented either team from pulling away.

On its final possession, with just 8.1 seconds to go, Holon got the ball to guard Brian Tolbert.

Drawing a double-team, the 34-year-old dribbled into the corner of three-point range, letting off a wild shot while almost falling out of bounds. The shot swished through the net, handing Holon its first Cup title and leaving no time on the clock for Haifa to respond.

Holon fans decked in yellow and purple jumped to their feet as Tolbert performed a victory lap around the court, trailed by his unbelieving, ecstatic teammates.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 67-Hapoel Jerusalem 66 (16/2/2009)

Haifa remove Jerusalem from the Cup on the way to the Cup Finals

Cup Semi-Finals: A dramatic basket by Moshe Mizrahi 2 seconds to the end of aifa the game has set 66:67 to the Greens against the holder of the cup, sending the Reds home.
The opponent on the Finals: Holon the Champion (179 comments)

By ONE System

February 16, 2009

It was nerve wrecking, it was dramatic, and eventually Maccabi Haifa managed to surprise HaPoel Jerusalem on the Cup Semi-Finals with 66:67 and to rise to the Finals for the first time since 1985.

It wasn’t a great game between the teams, to say the least, but it couldn’t have been more tide.
An incredible three-pointer by Omar Sneed 10 seconds to the end, when it seemed that Jerusalem’s offense got stuck, has granted Jerusalem with a 65:66 lead.

Jerusalem’s bench started celebrating, but it was too early.
Haifa got out on its last offense, Ben David has found Moshe Mizrahi uncovered under the basket, and Mizrahi scored, rising his team to a 66:67 lead along with a foul in his favor 2 seconds to the end.
Mizrahi missed, Jerusalem didn’t manage to get out on offense, and the Cup holder got kicked off.

After rising to the Cup Finals three years in a row, HaPoel Jerusalem will not arrive in the Nokia Arena, nor would it be able to make history, winning the title three years in a row for the first time in the Club’s history.

Haifa will meet Holon on the Finals, on the game between last year’s champion and the team that was called “The New Holon”, since it rose a league with huge expectations for succeeding in the League.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 75-Rishon LeZion 68 (7/2/2009)

Maccabi Haifa earned a home-win over Rishon LeZion, 68:75, in the 13th round of the Winner League. Ashkenazi's team remained in third place in the standings, while Rishon LeZion remained at the bottom.

In fact, Rishon LeZion appeared much better at the opening, running an offense to a quick lead, with the help of Obannon. The one taking responsibility for Haifa was Moshe Mizrahi who hit two important three-pointers, on the way to a 24-20 lead for the team from the Carmel.

The second quarter opened well for Berkovitch's team, but again, their weak defensive game led to a quick run by Haifa. Doron Perkins and his friends registered a number of great break-out offenses and got to halftime with a significant lead, 47-37.

Unlike previous quarters, Haifa looked good in the opening quarter, but throughout the game Haifa had a hard time scoring against good defense from the guests. Mossinzon enraptured the orange team with a lot of motivation, decreasing Haifa's lead to 59-55.

The fourth quarter was tied, mainly due to the fact that Perkins got injured. As Conley awakened, Rishon LeZion narrowed down the lead to 2, but a few smart decisions by Haifa by the end of the game along with missed shots from the three-point line by Rishon clinched the game at 75-68 to Haifa.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 94-Ironi Ramat Gan 74 (1/2/2009)

The Maccabi Haifa Heat got over two consecutive losses with an easy win over Ironi Ramat-Gan with 74:94. Unlike Haifa, Ramat Gan’s situation is quite troubling, losing four straight League games.

Davon Jefferson and Doron Perkins ended the game as the exceptional scorers of Maccabi Haifa with 19 points each, Brooks Sales added 17. The rest of Maccabi Haifa’s scorers: Moshe Mizrahi with 11, Todd Golden 8, Ido Kuzikaro 7, Amit Ben David 6, Kobi Isaac, Gur Porat and Ronald Ross with 2 points each and Ben Strong with 1 point.

Anthony Myles was most prominent among Ramat Gan with 20 points, Mike Helms has added 17. The rest of the scorers for Ironi Ramat Gan: Shmulik Brener 14, Lior Hachmon 10, Carmelo Lee 7, Lamont Jones 4, Gerry Grandel and Yariv Yatzkan 1 point each.

The game opened with 2 points by Brooks Sales, but Ramat Gan responded quickly, turning the score to 6-4 to Ramat Gan.

Ramat Gan rose the score to 11-6, but Haifa shrunk the lead down to 11-8. Haifa didn’t get too excited by Ramat Gan’s small lead, and Kuzikaro raised it to 14-13 from the line. Haifa maintained a small lead and Perkins buried a three-pointer, raising Haifa to 22-17. Haifa continued with its momentum and an impressive three-pointer by Golden at the buzzer set the quarter’s score, 30-21 to Maccabi Haifa.

Maccabi Haifa continued pushing and opened a fast 14 point lead, 35-21. Ramat Gan did not break down and reduced Haifa’s lead by the half, 37-30 to Maccabi Haifa.

At the 16th minute there was a 37 tie following a three-pointer by Michael Helms, but by the end of the quarter Haifa ran even further. At the 19th minute, Amit Ben David scores 49-43, 50-44 by the end of the quarter.

Haifa lit its burners on the third quarter, and Ramat Gan appeared miserable on the other side, except for Lior Hachmon who tried to deal with Haifa’s tall players under the basket, without too much success. Two three-pointers by Doron Perkins have set the third quarter’s score on the way to Haifa’s victory.

Haifa opened the last quarter with a limp, shooting only 5 points in 6 minutes, only because Doron Perkins got out. Coach Avi Ashkenazi quickly got himself together, got Perkins back to the parquet, and Haifa ran ahead all the way to the buzz winning justifiably, 94-74

B'nei Hasharon 75-Maccabi Haifa Heat 70 (24/1/2009)

Bnei Hasharon handed Maccabi Haifa its second straight BSL loss on Saturday, winning 75-70 on the road in Romema.

The teams combined for an unbelievable 43 turnovers in a physical and disorganized game, which was only decided in the fourth period.

Bnei Hasharon scored 30 points in the final 10 minutes, two more that it managed in the entire first half.

Ariel Beit-Halachmi's team is now tied on points with Haifa and is well placed to make a serious run for a top-four finish and home court advantage in the playoffs.

Richard Roby led Bnei Hasharon with 21 points, with Ugonna Onyekwe adding 19 points.

Doron Perkins and Ronald Ross each scored 15 points for Haifa.

Both teams combined for just 21 points in the first period, with Bnei Hasharon leading 11-10.

At the break, Haifa was ahead by a single point (29-28), but the visitors began the second half with a 9-0 run, capped by an Erez Katz three-pointer.

The hosts would answer back with an 11-0 run of their own, and the teams would be tied at 45-45 entering the fourth quarter.

The final 10 minutes belonged to Bnei Hasharon, which was unstoppable from beyond the arc in the period, and the side returned south with an important victory.

On Sunday, Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Hapoel Holon in the first meeting between the teams since last year's BSL championship game.

Only one Holon player from last year, Chris Watson, is still on the team's roster and Maccabi has also gone through wholesale changes since last season.

On Saturday, Maccabi signed point guard Dee Brown, 24, until the end of the season.

Brown, played for the University of Illinois, where in his final season he averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game.

In his junior year at Illinois (2005), he was named National Player of the Year by the American magazine Sporting News.

Brown was picked 46th in the 2006 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz and during the 2006/07 season, played in 49 games for the Jazz, averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 assists in 9.2 minutes per game.

Brown started this season with the Washington Wizards, where he averaged 13.7 minutes in 17 games and contributed 2.4 points, and 1.9 assists.

Holon will be playing its third straight home league game since the winter break and is still searching for a first win.

Two weeks ago the side was surprised by Maccabi Givat Shmuel and last week its game against Ironi Ashkelon was called-off with 4.26 minutes remaining in the first period after Ashkelon's Rashon Turner broke one of the rims with a thunderous dunk.

Maccabi has won both its games since the break, beating Ironi Ramat Gan and Maccabi Haifa.

Also Sunday, Hapoel Galil Elyon/Gilboa hosts Ironi Ashkelon, Maccabi Rishon Lezion visits Ironi Ramat Gan and Ironi Nahariya hosts Ironi Kiryat Ata.

On Monday, Hapoel Jerusalem goes in search of its eighth straight league win when it plays Maccabi Givat Shmuel at Malha Arena.