The Israel State Cup Basketball Final is set as cup holder Hapoel Jerusalem will once again tip off against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the one-game, winner-take-all annual title that will be held on Thursday at Yad Eliyahu in Tel Aviv.
The Reds downed Hapoel Beersheba 74-69 in a tight final-four affair while the yellow-and-blue overwhelmed Kiryat Ata 102-67 in the second semifinal to set up an Israeli clasico rematch of last year’s final.
Jerusalem will look to win the title for the second time in as many years, however last season’s final was held in the Israeli capital and this time it will be in Tel Aviv.
Against Beersheba, the Reds were able to build up a 62-50 lead by the end of the third quarter as Khadeen Carrington paced Yonatan Alon’s team. But big baskets down the stretch by JaKeenan Gant and Grant Sherfield gave the Southerners a slim 68-67 advantage with just over a minute to play.
However, Levi Randolph hit clutch free-throws and Yovel Zoosman drilled home a 3-pointer as time wound down to seal the deal and take the win.
Carrington scored 16 points, Randolph added 13 points and Alex Tyus scored 11 points in the victory. Gant and Sherfield each scored 16 points in the defeat.
“We never thought that this would be an easy game,” Jerusalem bench boss Yonatan Alon said. “Beersheba is a tough team and as the game developed I played the guys that I felt could help us at that certain moment and it looked like it worked out.
“We defended very well in the second half and I don’t think there was a foul on Randolph,” Beersheba coach Oren Ahaorni said. “We missed a shot at the end and they scored, but I’m proud of the guys and the way they played in this game.”
Reflecting on victory
Tyus also reflected on the victory.
“The fans helped us with this win… It feels great coming back to Israel and I was hoping I’d be able to finish my career here. That was always a goal. I know the system and it’s great to compete with Jerusalem for titles.”
Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv blew away Kiryat Ata by 35 points to advance to the final, where it will look to win its 46th title, the most of any Israeli league team.
Sharon Avrahami’s squad opened the game strong as Amin Stevens scored in bunches down low to give Kiryat Ata a stunning 27-18 lead after 10 minutes.
But Oded Katash’s team started to get busy in the second quarter as Roman Sorkin, Tamir Blatt and Jasiel Rivero all found points to give Maccabi a 48-38 advantage at halftime. The yellow-and-blue used the third period to begin to pull away as Sorkin kept finding points as did John DiBartolomeo to bump the lead up to 30 points by the end of the frame to cruise to the win.
Sorkin scored 17 points with nine rebounds, Bonzie Colson added 14 points and Joe Thomasson scored 12 points in the victory. Stevens scored 27 points for Kiryat Ata and Raz Adam chipped in with 14 points in the loss.
“We didn’t expect the way the game began,” Katash said. “But I’m very happy that we played the right way to flip the game and come back and when we went into half we were up by 10 points and then we knew what we had to do to finish off the game. I’m not taking this win for granted because after being knocked out of Europe anything can happen.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have started out so strong against a team like Maccabi,” Kiryat Ata’s Avrahami said. “But we did have a great quarter. In the second quarter we missed many shots and we knew that in the third down by 10 if we didn’t stay together we would come apart.”
Colson also spoke about the victory.
“It was a great game from us and great team effort. We lacked energy out of the gate but we knew that if we stuck to our game plan we would be ok and get things done. It’s important for us to win this championship; Jerusalem is a talented team and if we stick to what we do, we should come out with the win. We lost last year and there will be a lot of motivation, but it will be fun to play them for sure.”
In league play, Hapoel Holon just got by Maccabi Ramat Gan 84-83 to get back onto the winning track.
Ramat Gan jumped out to a quick start as Nuni Omot was unstoppable along with newcomer Michael Devoe and Yahel Melamed, but Justin Smith, Tahjere McCall and and Drew Crawford got hot near the end of the first half to give Holon a 50-45 lead at halftime.
Niv Misgav, Yotam Hanochi and Shachar Amir started contributing to bump up the Purples’ lead in the third quarter to 71-63, but Karam Mashour and Adam Ariel pulled the hosts to within just one point with under a minute left in the final frame. However, free throws by Amir and CJ Harris wrapped up the win for Holon.
Smith scored 21 points, Misgav added 13 points, Crawford chipped in with 11 points and Amir scored 10 points in the win. Omot led Ramat Gan with 19 points, Devoe scored 16 points and Ariel added 15 points in the loss.