The ninth round of the Athena Winner Women’s Basketball League was signed tonight (Monday) with winners almost all expected. If Rishon Lezion came as a clear favorite to Herzliya, and Ashdod saw itself as a better team than Hapoel Bnei Petah Tikva, then no one could have expected the offensive display of Maccabi Haifa in the main game of the round, let alone the shocking surprise in Elitzur Tel Aviv’s victory over the champion From Ramat Gan.
AS Ramat Hasharon – Maccabi Haifa 95:85
Last week, Ofir Kastan noted that one of the weaknesses of Maccabi Haifa this season is the hesitant opening to the games, but no one could have dreamed of an opening like the Greens presented in Ramat Hasharon. The players from Carmel scored from any situation, played fast, team, were first to the rebound and finished their best quarter of the season with an 18:30 advantage over the team that came to this game after five consecutive victories and has already plotted for second place. With over 70 per cent in shots for Bernice Mosby’s 2 and 17 points just in the first quarter – she finished the game with 29 – there was nothing to stop the Greens even at the start of the second quarter, and the only one who still tried to do something about it was Jacinta Monroe, who scored All of her first five shots from the field en route to 28 points, the host’s leading scorer. Vatori with 17, Carlton with 15 and Walker with 14 also tried to complete a makeover in Ramat Hasharon, but Chelsea Hopkins finished as the leading scorer in the game with 32 points and the winning streak of the locals ended against one of the direct rivals in the battle for the title.
Scored to Ramat Hasharon: Monroe 28, and Torrey 17, Carlton 15, Walker 14, Karsh 6, Schuster 5.
They scored for Haifa: Hopkins 32, Mosby 29, Won 16, Castan 8, Singer 5, Fun 3, Oak 2.
Elitzur Tel Aviv – Maccabi Ramat Gan 71:77
A week after Ramat Gan’s weak game against Ramat Hasharon, the doubles player arrived at a game that was marked as a must for her for the rest of the season – against the newcomer. And yet, the host managed to complete a makeover before the break and climb to a 31:35 lead at the end of 20 minutes, a result that gave her a significant moral boost and allowed her to believe in her ability to record a second win of the season. Indeed, Ramat Gan did everything in its power to return to the game, but it was not enough against the newcomer who scored 21 points in the last quarter (all of the five players), was tense and accurate in all eight times she stood on the line during the game. Despite a crazy run and an impressive accumulation of points by Ramat Gan towards the end, the Tel Aviv team recorded their second victory of the season – 71:77 over the champion.
Scored to Tel Aviv: Carrington 24, Leslie 19, Dagan 14, Zlibansky 13, Smith 7.
They scored for Ramat Gan: Jenkins 20, James 19, Harper 18, Heart 9, Cells 2.
Herzliya girls – Hapoel Rishon Lezion 86:72
The guest from the wine city has had a hard time opening strongly in recent weeks and tonight she also gave the Herzliya girls a chance to gain a surprising 2: 9 advantage in the first minutes, mainly thanks to points from Jennifer Fleischer. Jenny Sims, the big star of Rishon LeZion, did not intend to let this game escape and started to take on the craft of producing points. Until her team made a perfect turn and led 13:19 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a three on Noga Ettinger’s buzzer. Sims also She tried to put all her friends in the game and by the end of the half she already had a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists. The third quarter already felt like Garbage Time and the Herzliya players took advantage of this to return to a single-digit difference, but the last quarter was already over and the senior team in the country knew how to end it without getting into difficulties.
They scored for Herzliya: Brown 22, Forbis 20, Simon 16, Fleischer 14,
Scored to Rishon LeZion: Sims 37, Block 18, Turner 11, Cohen 10, Tzipel 7, Ettinger 3.
Maccabi Ashdod – Hapoel Petah Tikva 67:79
Recent rounds have shown that Maccabi Ashdod girls often suffer ups and downs while playing, so it is quite clear why the team, which arrived tonight with assistant coach Yair Mor Yosef on the lines, resolutely started with the intention of creating a stable advantage for the future. Victoria Vivians and Allison Hightower took over the game and scored 19 points out of Ashdod’s 23 in the first quarter. The trend continued in the second quarter and it seemed that the team from the port city came to vent frustrations. Mai Dayan and Krisma Penn also began to participate in the celebration, and at least until the middle of the quarter, Roy Levin’s team looked completely paralyzed. It was probably only a matter of time before Ashdod would take its foot off the gas, and the answer was at the start of the second half, because then the key players did not offer the ring and the promising gap that shrank to him stood at 53:61 at the end of the third quarter. And yet, all in all it was not Petah Tikva’s evening and the fuel ran out in the guests’ bodies.
They scored for Ashdod: Vivans 22, Hightower 19, Penn 13, Cohen 9, Dayan 9, Sahar 3, Shah 2, Presley 2.
They scored for Petah Tikva: Kiev 15, Hopper 14, Bell 13, Hadad 9, Roth 8, Givon 5, Hajjaj 3.