Holon, Ashkelon, Ashdod look to close door at home
05/13/2012 04:17
With a 70-65 win, Holon takes a 2-1 lead in its series against Hapoel Jerusalem.
Sharon Druker, Hapoel Jerusalem coach Photo: Adi Avishai
After snatching home-court advantage from supposedly superior opponents, Hapoel
Holon, Ironi Ashkelon and Maccabi Ashdod will be desperate to book their BSL
Final Four tickets on Sunday night, hoping to avoid a fifth and decisive game on
the road.
Holon took a 2-1 lead in its series against Hapoel Jerusalem
with a 70-65 win at Malha Arena on Thursday and its coach Dan Shamir believes
his team faces its toughest game of the season so far on Sunday.
“In
tennis terms we have broken their serve and everyone knows that now we face the
most difficult game of our season,” Shamir said.
Jerusalem won three
straight games against Holon, including one on the road, before losing the past
two, and coach Sharon Drucker is confident his team can send the series back to
Malha for a decider.
“We lost Game 3 because of our poor free-throw
shooting and their offensive rebounding,” Drucker explained.
“We will be
fighting for our lives on Sunday and I believe we can do it.”
Ashkelon
and Ashdod are both hoping to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first teams to
lose a 2-0 lead in an Israeli playoff series after being pegged back on
Thursday.
Ashkelon entered the playoffs on an eight-game losing streak,
and despite falling in Game 3 at Maccabi Rishon Lezion, remains optimistic of
clinching the series on Sunday.
“Rishon wanted the win more than we did
in Game 3 and we lost our killer’s instinct,” said Ashkelon’s Tony
Skinn. “The series is still in our hands and Game 4 will be won by the
team that wants it more.”
Hapoel Gilboa/Galil remained alive against
Ashdod with a 74-60 win on Thursday, but the No. 2 seed will be sent packing on
Sunday if it doesn’t win away from home for the first time since the end of
March when it triumphed in a regular season meeting at Ashdod.
Sunday on TV: Ironi Ashkelon vs Ris- Maccabi Rishon Lezion (live on Sport5+live
at 6:45 p.m.); Maccabi Ashdod vs Hapoel Gilboa/Galil (live on Sport5+ at 7
p.m.); Hapoel Holon vs Hapoel Jerusalem (live on Sport5 at 7:15 p.m.).