Local Hoops: Holon routs Bnei Hasharon, 83-52

Team capitalizes on a 14-0 run in the second quarter, and never loses the momentum.

By ADAM MILLER
Hapoel Holon 224.88 (photo credit: Asaf Kliger [file])
Hapoel Holon 224.88
(photo credit: Asaf Kliger [file])
When a team has its best effort in the fourth quarter, it usually translates into a win. But for Bnei Hasharon, no final effort would've been good enough to avoid snapping its two-game winning-streak at Hapoel Holon on Monday. Holon (6-5) improved its record to over .500 by capitalizing on a 14-0 run in the second quarter, and never lost the momentum in its 83-52 rout of Bnei Hasharon (7-5). The hosts took over with three minutes left in the first period after Hapoel shooting guard Yehu Orland (17 points) drained a three-pointer to push the lead to six points. Hapoel's run allowed it to take a 47-26 lead going into the locker room. Holon point guard Darius Washington (16 points) took advantage of Bnei Hasharon's defense, which included scoring six points on the fast-break during the first half alone. "We worked on being able to defend and that's what we did today," Holon point guard Luis Flores (20 points) said. "Fortunately, they weren't making shots either." Bnei shooting guard Cookie Belcher temporarily ended the drought with a shot from beyond-the-arc. Yet Belcher's shot did little to disrupt Holon's offense. Danny Franco's team continued pounding away with a 55 percent field-goal percentage and had three players in double-figures. Hasharon had a 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter, but the effort failed to put a dent in Holon's lead. Hapoel had its largest lead (38 points) in the final two minutes of the game to pile on to its romp over Bnei. Ariel Beit-Halachmi's team scored more points in the fourth quarter (19) than it did in the second and third quarters combined (18) with center Shawn James and Belcher totaling eight points each. However, its 45 percent shooting was not good enough to overcome Holon attack. Hasharon falls to fifth place in the BSL and will play its first home game since its 83-78 upset of Maccabi Tel Aviv against Gilboa/Galil on December 14. In other basketball news, the Israel Basketball Association announced on Monday that there are still around 4,000 tickets remaining for the State Cup semifinals double-header at the Nokia Arena on February 16. Nevertheless, the IBA is confident that all the remaining tickets for the semifinal games between Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Haifa, and Hapoel Holon and Ironi Nahariaya, will be sold by the end of this weekend.