Maccabi wipes the floor with Hapoel in Tel Aviv derby

Maccabi Tel Aviv steamrolled Hapoel Tel Aviv in the derby on Sunday night,one game behind BSL leader Hapoel Jerusalem, which notched its 12th straight league victory.

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Yogev Ohayon (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Yogev Ohayon
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv steamrolled Hapoel Tel Aviv in the derby on Sunday night, but still remained one game behind BSL leader Hapoel Jerusalem, which notched its 12th straight league victory.
Maccabi was desperate to avenge its defeat to Hapoel earlier this season and had little trouble doing so against a depleted roster.
The Reds were always going to struggle without injured starters Raviv Limonad and Matan Naor, but still gave the yellow-and-blue a run for its money for most of the first half. However, they would capitulate in the second half, ultimately losing 90-58.
Maccabi improved to 14-4 with its ninth straight BSL victory, but Jerusalem (15-3) has now won 12 consecutive games, beating Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 77-70 on the road on Sunday.
There was nothing to separate the teams after a tight first half (40-40), but Jerusalem opened a double-digit lead in the third quarter and remained in control until the final buzzer.
Yotam Halperin led Jerusalem with 19 points, with Art Parakhouski scoring 18 points.
Gerald Robinson had 19 points for Gilboa (7-11).
Maccabi scored the first five points of the derby at Nokia and never dropped the lead. However, Hapoel put up a valiant effort without its injured stars and was down by just five points (21-16) after 10 minutes.
A Justin Harper basket kept Hapoel within striking distance (33-29) late in the first half, but Maccabi would score the final six points of the second period to take a double-digit margin into the break (39-29).
Hapoel never came close to mounting a comeback in the second half, with Maccabi leading by 15 points (62-47) at the start of the fourth frame before outscoring the Reds 28-11 in the final 10 minutes to compound the misery on its arch-rival.
Devin Smith led five Maccabi players in double-digits with 19 points and nine boards. Carlon Brown had 16 points for Hapoel.
Maccabi Haifa (12-6) claimed its sixth win in the past seven BSL games on Sunday, edging Hapoel Holon (8-10) 81-80 thanks to a Donta Smith free throw in the closing seconds.
Brian Randle and Dagan Yavzuri had 21 and 20 points, respectively, for Haifa, which trailed by as many as 14 points (65-51) in the third quarter.
Scottie Reynolds led Holon with 14 points.
Also Sunday, Ironi Ness Ziona (10-8) beat Barak Netanya (7-11) 77-62 behind 18 points from Diamon Simpson. Dawan Robinson had 24 points for Netanya.