There are several games that are milestones in the season in the Winner Basket League and we got such a game today (Sunday) when Hapoel Jerusalem sent a statement of intent to the entire league. The cup holder trampled Maccabi Tel Aviv with a clear 84:101 and in doing so she not only sent a signal to the league, but she also gave another stamp to the terrible season of the champion.
From the start it looked good for the host Barna, how good? The scoreboard showed 2:18 to Hapoel Jerusalem in Oded Ketch’s first timeout, and from that moment Yonatan Alon’s apprentices did not look back and recorded a huge 17-point victory over one of its biggest rivals, if not the biggest of them all.
Yuval Sussman was wonderful beyond the arc, Chris Johnson went his own way and was hot from the three-point range as well, but above all of them was, of course, Jared Harper. Perhaps the best player in our league was hot for the umpteenth time this season, as he was unstoppable with 30 points, five assists and four rebounds. In general, Hapoel Jerusalem scored 15 three-pointers out of 25 attempts, wonderful percentages that were too much for the yellows.
In Maccabi Tel Aviv the only one to appear is the only one who seemed to have something to prove – Liwai Randolph. The guard/forward played against the former and was very good with 22 points, with Roman Sorkin and David DeJulius also adding 14 points each. In any case, the yellows took fewer rebounds, handed out fewer assists, recorded more turnovers and were really helpless against the cup holder.
In terms of the table, then Hapoel Jerusalem inflicted its second loss on Maccabi Tel Aviv and now the balance of the two teams is similar – two losses as mentioned, along with nine wins. Yonatan Alon moved ahead of Oded Ketch in the table following this victory, when Hapoel Tel Aviv can also reach 20 points in the league if they win their missing game.
Scored for Hapoel Jerusalem: Jared Harper 30 points, Yuval Sussman 17, Chris Johnson 15, Kadin Carrington 12, Gabi Chachashuili 10, Derek Ogbeide 6, Jeremy Morgan and Tarik Philip 4 each and Igor Kulshov 3.
Scored for Maccabi Tel Aviv: Levi Randolph 22 points, David DeJulius and Roman Sorkin 14 points, Jake Cohen 8, Tamir Blatt 7, Rafi Manko and Mariel Shayuk 5 points, Jaylen Hurd 4 and Will Reiman 3.
First quarter: 18:29 Hapoel Jerusalem
Hapoel Jerusalem Quintet: Jared Harper, Tarik Philip, Yuval Sussman, Chris Johnson and Derek Ogbeida.
Maccabi Tel Aviv Quintet: Tamir Blatt, Rokas Iukovaitis, Levi Randolph, Jaylen Hurd and Roman Sorkin.
The game opened with two accurate Johnsons from the line after it fixed an airball by Harper, Philip completed 0:4 when he fixed Johnson himself this time and Ogbeide continued the run with a tremendous dunk from Harper’s alley-oop. Sussman made it 0:7 with one of two free throws, Sorkin picked up a second early foul after his attack, Ogbeida punished immediately on the other side and Hurd’s dunk stopped the run with his own dunk, but Harper brought it to double digits with a three that set 2:12. Harper added an and-one and continued the madness in the opening, Chachashvili recorded one of two from the line, but took his own rebound, put two and it was 2:18 after five minutes (!), prompting Ketch to call the first timeout.
Jake Cohen alone with an and-one and two more provided a 0:5 run, Carrington returned fire with an important triple and a nice penetration by Randolph against the former already made Jonathan Alon ask for a time out when he leads 9:21. Carrington also squeezed out a second foul from Hord and scored twice from the line, D’Julius with a plotter answered from the other side and then Igor Kulshov made his debut for his new team, only to see D’Julius again penetrate and score. Harper responded to 12 and reached 8 points, DeJulius continued to be hot with a three that brought it down to single digits, until Sussman increased the difference to 11 and again it went down to 9 by who but DeJulius. The quarter nevertheless ended in double digits for Jerusalem thanks to Ogbeida’s two.
Second quarter: 38:46 to Hapoel Jerusalem
Shayuk with five and Reiman with two set up a quick 0:7 run to open the quarter and narrow it to just four, then Sussman responded with 0:5 of his own thanks to a big dunk and a three and it’s nine again. Blatt squeezed a foul to three and hit all the shots, Johnson laid down two from a brilliant assist by Chachashvili and Sorkin calmed the arena with a three. Chacha used the board and added two, Randolph hit twice from the penalty and the scoreboard showed 33:38 for the red-blacks.
Cha’tashvili again made it seven and also reached seven points himself, when he immediately added a dunk that made Ketch ask to talk to his trainees. Philip squeezed Horde for the third, but he made only one of two from the line, Randolph’s step back for three reduced it to seven and this time Alon asked for a time out. Yokobaitis missed a layup, Sussman punished with another 3-pointer of his own and went up to 11 points, when his team’s advantage he increased to ten, Randolph closed the half with two with the board and it was appointed as the trophy holder at the break.
Third quarter: 60:78 to Hapoel Jerusalem
Sussman started the second half exactly as he played the entire first – sharp and with a quick three-pointer, Randolph and Blatt gave a quick 0:4 run and reduced the lead to seven. Chris Johnson, as usual, scored a three-pointer from the corner and responded to double digits, Sorkin within seconds responded to him from beyond the arc himself, so Johnson sewed another three-pointer and this time even from the middle of the arc, so one can only guess what happened from here? Roman Sorkin scored another three. That infighting stopped when Harper was sent to the line and dunked once and Sussman didn’t stop with another 3-pointer, his fourth of the game and Carrington’s layup made it 13, so Ketch asked the secretary for a short break to talk to his players. The Yellows returned the timeout with a three-pointer from Randolph and two more from the forward, with Morgan scoring a point from the center line.
Chris Johnson from the corner! Another three-pointer by the forward, Yokobaitis landed the arena with a nice penetration and his first points of the game, Johnson was sent to the line and dunked twice, then Sorkin did the same on the other side, so Harper also did the same and Alon’s students took a lead of 57:69 . Randolph Zymak with two from distance that brought him up to 18 points and then Kulshov scored the first points on his new team, and he did it even from beyond the arc. DeJulius made one of the free throws, then the group of threes by the host continued with two more – first from Harper and then from Carrington and the quarter ended with 18 points for Hapoel Jerusalem.
Fourth quarter: 84:101 to Hapoel Jerusalem
Harper and Philip’s 0:5 run established a 23 difference (!), the Yellows responded with an 8:0 run from the hands of Reiman, Jake Cohen and Hurd, and this run was stopped by Harper. Blatt scored on the yellow side, so Harper responded with a 3-pointer and suddenly it was 18 again. Manko made a three-pointer, so Harper didn’t let him celebrate much and had a wonderful room and then after Chachashvili made one of two shots from the line, Rafi Manko did the same on the other side and the result was 74:91.
Carrington scored two and Phillip one more from the line, Sorkin Zymak with a three and Harper answered him immediately with a penetration and a flutter with the board. Randolph reduced the difference to 15 under the basket two minutes to the end, Manko reduced it to 14 from the side. Nerves probably started to take over the yellows and Menko received a technical foul, Harper made it 15 and immediately he added a three to make it 18. Harper made one of two from the line and reached 30 points (!), making it 84:101 after DeJulius scored two.
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