Hap J’lem tramples Bnei Hasharon in Drucker’s debut

Drucker understands victory over Bnei Hasharon in its current state is hardly a reason to celebrate.

By ALLON SINAI
Sharon Druker, Hapoel Jerusalem coach (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Sharon Druker, Hapoel Jerusalem coach
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Sharon Drucker’s second tenure as Hapoel Jerusalem coach began on a winning note on Monday night, with the Reds crushing Bnei Hasharon 102-63 in BSL action in Herzliya.
Jerusalem opened a nine-point lead (22-13) after 10 minutes and all but clinched the win after beginning the second quarter with a 15-4 run to extend its margin to 20 points (37-17).
While Drucker deserves some credit for the emphatic win, he understands that a victory over Bnei Hasharon in its current state is hardly a reason to celebrate.
“We need to put things in perspective, although clearly the changing of the coach always makes an impact,” said Drucker, who replaced Oded Katash, who resigned last week following a 22-point defeat at BC Habika’a.
“I enjoyed watching the players tonight, but we still have a lot of work to do until we will be synchronized. I think the players also played for Katash.
His resignation hurt a lot of people.”
One of the players who would have been affected by Katash’s departure more than others is Brian Randle.
The 26-year-old center was brought to Israel by Katash more than three years ago, with the two spending a couple of seasons together at Hapoel Gilboa/Galil before both moving to Jerusalem at the start of the 2010/11 campaign.
“I think today was about proving our resilience,” said Randle, who scored 17 points for Hapoel.
“It was a tough week. It wasn’t easy for Sharon to come in here, but it was a good outing for us and hopefully we can build on it.
“We owed this win to the club. It is a hard thing to see a coach leave and it was important for us to step up.”
D.J. Strawberry led Hapoel with 19 points, 17 of them in the first half, with Elishay Kadir contributing 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Tweety Carter had 25 points for Bnei Hasharon, which has now lost its last three league games by an average 38.3 points.