Israeli League Round 8
Another full round was played on Monday, starting with Kalani Brown helping Maccabi Ashdod stay perfect with a 77-71 win over Jazmine Jones and Ramat Hasharon. Kristen Simon and Kaila Charles led Hapoel Rishon Lezion in scoring and Eden Zipel recorded a triple-double in their 101-59 win over Hapoel Petah Tikva. Maccabi Ramat Gan had a balanced scoring effort in a 73-63 win over Courtney Hurt and Elitzur Holon 73-63. Taylor Wurtz and Danielle Adams tried to lead ASA Jerusalem in the middle of a transition, but could not keep up with Eden Rotberg and Elitzur Ramla in an 83-61 loss. Amy Okonkwo and Maccabi Haifa won 82-68 in Herzliya against Breanna Richardson and company.
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4404
Ramat Hasharon [71]: Jones 22/9r/6a Collier 19 Jenkins 16/11r Saar 3
Maccabi Ashdod [77]: Brown 32/10r Walker-Kimbrough 17/14r/6a Hiedeman 11 Cohen 7 Sahar 6 Edelman 4 Dayan 0
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4406
Hapoel Petah Tikva [59]: Bellock 17 Bell 15/6r Cowling 8/8r Purvis 7 Snow 0
Hapoel Rishon Lezion [101]: Simon 25/14r Charles 25 Zipel 16/11r/11a Hooper 12
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4405
Maccabi Ramat Gan [73]: Caldwell 14 Alleyne 13/17r Brown 13/9r/11a Vaturi 13 Hatokay 11
Elitzur Holon [63]: Hurt 21/15r/6a Kabada 11 Harden 9/10r/6a Presley 5 Ivanovic 2
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4403
ASA Jerusalem [61]: Wurtz 31/10r Adams 21/9r
Elitzur Ramla [83]: Rotberg 23 Cannon 17/9r Danan 12/10r Babkina 10/7r Austin 7/9r Baron 6 Fleischer 4/9r
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4407
Bnot Herzliya [68]: Richardson 21/9r Amukamara 16/6a Day 15/11r Zambrotta 6 Shea 0
Maccabi Haifa [82]: Okonkwo 22/11r Bulgak 14/12r Hopkins 14/12a Lev 11 Singer 10
Standings:
1. Maccabi Ashdod 8-0
2. Elitzur Ramla 6-2
3. Maccabi Ramat Gan 6-2
4. Maccabi Haifa 5-3
5. Hapoel Rishon Lezion 4-4
6. Ramat Hasharon 3-5
7. Bnot Herzliya 3-5
8. Elitzur Holon 2-6
9. Hapoel Petah Tikva 2-6
10. ASA Jerusalem 1-7
World of Basketball
Americas
The finals started on Tuesday in Puerto Rico and it was Moca that got the first win 76-69 over Carolina. With the teams switching venues between games, Carolina was able to avoid falling into a hole on Wednesday after hanging on to a 72-71 win. The next game was Friday and it came down to the wire before Moca’s stronger second half got them a 68-65 win. Moca ended the series with a 79-74 win on Sunday as both teams leaned heavily on their starters.
That was not the only trophy awarded as Obras won 62-46 against Quimsa to end the first tournament in Argentina. While the league takes a holiday pause and Chile’s tournament finished last weekend, another country in the region started play. Daniela Mora had 40 rebounds in the first two games of the season in Ecuador and also added 7 blocks in one game.
Asia
The battle for second place started the week of games on Wednesday and the Blue Minx got the edge with a 74-61 win over BNK. The S-Birds won 73-58 against Hana Bank on Thursday. The top two teams in the league met on Friday and it was Woori Bank winning 64-53 to maintain their dominance. The two teams at the bottom of the standings met on Saturday and the Stars won 77-60 over Hana Bank, but the bigger news by far was the return of Park Ji-Su to the court for the champions. Woori Bank fended off BNK 67-63 on Sunday. The Stars built on their momentum with a 62-55 win over the S-Birds on Monday.
This stage of play ended in Kazakhstan on Friday and Turan is still undefeated after facing the other teams in the top half while only playing weaker opponents did not help Barsy get their first win. Inga Manucharyan had the best individual performances with a triple-double on Tuesday and a 32 point effort on Thursday. Elizaveta Mitina had the top scoring output in the top half with a 30 point game on Thursday.
The Empress’s Cup was awarded in Japan this weekend as the quarterfinals started on Wednesday. Tokyo Healthcare University was the only non top-division team to make it to this phase and their run was ended by the Red Wave 69-67. In the first semifinal on Saturday, Ramu Tokashiki had 32 points to lead the Sunflowers to a 77-57 win over the Antelopes and then the league-leading Iris won 74-56 over the Red Wave. Tokashiki scored another 32 points in Sunday’s final and added 22 rebounds to get the Sunflowers the trophy 76-66.
Around Europe
Riga was the site of three more games in the European League and it included the first game for Frankivsk of Ukraine, which has been playing well locally. They defeated Riga Stradins University 68-62 on Saturday, but the hosts bounced back on Sunday with their first win 92-59 over Siauliai. Siauliai got a 74-68 win on Monday even though Krystyna Filevich had 32 points for Frankivsk. It was not a particularly busy schedule in the Baltic League, but the last two winless teams met in the Lithuanian league and 21 rebounds for Goda Malakviejute did not get her team that win as Olga Fomina had a 30 point effort for the other team. The united competition was all Albania vs. Kosovo matchups again and Kosovo narrowly missed out on a sweep. Leila Omerbasic had 32 points both in this competition and her domestic league game.
The Chase for Promotion
Tarsus had been getting help from the reserve teams in Turkey’s second division, but they had to make sure that they did not fall victim to one themselves this week. The two Elazig teams met and delivered the individual performances of the week as Channon Fluker grabbed 23 rebounds for Elazig il Ozel Idere, but the big game was on the other side with Ameryst Alston pouring in 50 points to get her team the 85-74 win. Ferrol was prevented from building too big a lead in Spain’s second division after Zamora crushed them 73-46.
In Serbia’s second division, 36 points from Natasa Bucevac was not enough for her team to win, but Jovana Jevtovic did get a win with a 32 point effort. In Portugal’s second division, Kyaja Williams had 33 points while her teammate Carolina Anacleto dished out 15 assists and Rakia Lane had 31 points. There was no surprise about who had the biggest game though as Becca Wann-Taylor had 34 points and 24 rebounds.
Notable Individual Performances
Louise Forysth had a 32 point game in Switzerland as there were plenty of other noteworthy performances this week. Aquira DeCosta 32 points and 20 rebounds in Sweden, but Alvik did not get the win as Lexi Held had 34 points for Norrkoping. Games in Serbia included a 33 point output for Katarina Knezevic and a 20 rebound performance from Jelena Budimir. There were a couple of big games for teams in Romania coming off continental play as Trinity Baptiste had 38 points for Arad while Bethy Mununga had 22 rebounds for Sepsi. 40 points and 21 rebounds was not enough for Aliyah Collier to get a win in Iceland as Tinna Alexandersdottir led the other team with 34 points. It was a double round of games in Finland and Carmen Tyson-Thomas followed up a 20 rebound game with a 36 point effort and her teammate Sierra Moore chipped in with 30 points. Reili Richardson had a 32 point game and Maddi Utti had a 34 point game. Alyssa Thomas had a triple-double as USK Praha looks to dominate domestic competition yet again. Cassidy Mihalko had a 38 point outing in the only game played in Cyprus. In Croatia, Klara Rimarcuk had 36 points in a game while Iva Todoric had a triple-double.
Cup games were played in Luxembourg had Frankie Wurtz had a 30 point game to send her team through while Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman had 36 points in a loss. Both had good games in the return to league play with Wurtz grabbing another 20 rebounds and Welch-Coleman’s 42 points being enough for a win against Jade Compton, who had 32 points and 21 rebounds for her team. Martha Burse had 30 points, Mikaya Ferenz had 31 points, and Kierra Anthony had 37 points.
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