Tonight (Sunday) the 16th round of the Athena Winner Women’s Basketball League kicks off with two early games in it. Maccabi Urbani Ramat Gan defeated AS Ramat Hasharon 68:80, while Herzliya girls defeated Elitzur Holon 77:93.
AS Ramat Hasharon – Maccabi Urban Ramat Gan 80:68 (49:34)
Raj continued the positive momentum after winning the state cup and led by Eden Rotberg, Tal Lev, Kayla Hillsman, Alex Harden and Natisha Heidman, in their last game this season in Ramat Gan, took a significant step to secure a place among the top 6 teams in the table. Heidemann gave his heart and soul to Ramat Gan and also last night in Israel, played with an injury and finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Coach Roy Lazar’s team finished a great first half in 34:49 with excellent ability from Rothberg. In the third quarter, Natisha Heidman raised Ramat Gan to 47:63, but Ramat Hasharon managed to close the big gap thanks to beautiful moves by Ofir Lavi and Eliana Coates, which shrank to 67:59.
In the last 10 minutes of the game, a three by Alex Harden raised Ramat Gan to 62:75. But Crystal Bradford shrank from the penalty spot to 75:63 and a 3-pointer by Gaia Cells once again reduced the single-digit lead to 75:66. So just in time, Eden Rotberg arrived and raised Ramat Gan to 66:79 with 3 minutes and 8 seconds left. From here a sequence of errors and ball losses lowered the clock to 1:18 d to the end which was enough for Hillsman to add a point from the penalty spot to 66:80 and close interest.
Scored to Ramat Hasharon: Jenny Sims 21, Crystal Bradford 18 (11 rebounds), Eliana Coates 10, Ofir Lavie 9, Guy Sells 5, Shelly Sirkis 3.
Scored to Ramat Gan: Eden Rotberg 24, Kayla Hillsman 23 (16 rebounds), Natisha Heidman 16, Tal Lev and Alex Harden 7 each, Tamar Bar Gal 3.
Herzliya Girls – Elitzur Leica Holon 77:93 (37:41)
A wonderful evening by Marina Maybri with an impressive triple double that included 33 points (7 threes), 12 rebounds and 13 assists along with 32 points and 10 rebounds by her teammate, Pollard Najai, led Herzliya to a 77:93 victory over Holon.
Herzliya won the first two quarters (19:22 and 18:19) and led in the half 37:41 with 15 points by Fulad Najai, 10 by Victoria McCauley and only 7 by Marina Maveri. Liad Orbach led Holon’s goals in the first half with 10 points.
In the third quarter, the Herzliya girls’ run continued to 10:23 and reached 47:64 and 54:73. In the last 10 minutes of the match there was no change and Herzliya celebrated an important victory in an extraordinary evening of Maverie who recorded a 47 point index along with the excellent ability of Najai and Victoria McCauley who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sequoia Holmes’ 22 points did not help Holon.
Scored to Herzliya: Marina Mayberry 33 (12 rebounds, 13 assists), Pollard Najai 32 (10 rebounds), Victoria McCauley 19 (11 rebounds), Taya Presley 9.
Scored to Holon: Sequoia Holmes 22, Shay Kelly 11 (10 rebounds), Daniel Rover and Chelsea Hopkins 10 each, Shay Doron and Ami Rinat 5 each, Ayala Roth 4.