Moshe Barda 29/01/2021 13:30
Othello Hunter (Itzik Belnitsky)
After a month, Maccabi Tel Aviv returned today (Friday) to the Winner Basket League when they met Gilboa / Galil for a final game from the tenth round and discovered that even in the local arena – she really does not go to lick honey in every game. Yannis Sapropoulos’ team was very far from its peak when on the other hand, they encountered the young and talented team of Avishai Gordon, who was better throughout all stages of the match and achieved a justified and prestigious victory in the hall, 70:79 over the champion.
As you may recall, the meeting between the two teams was supposed to take place six days ago, but was postponed due to fears of being infected by Maccabi Tel Aviv following Nicola’s infection with Aprobitola from Real Madrid. The champion has since managed to return from Turkey after a loss to Fenerbahce, when it seemed that the signs of fatigue were still noticeable on Yannis Sapropoulos’ side.
On the other hand, there was a young and talented team, which continues to be one of the most refreshing teams this season in the Winner Basket League. The team of Avishai Gordon, who replaced Lior Lubin who left to serve as Oded Katash’s assistant at Panathinaikos, wrote the pace right from the start and enjoyed the great ability of her two foreigners – Kerry Blackshire who scored 22 points and Joe Thomson who added 19 of his own.
On the other hand, Ante Žižić was the only one who functioned offensively and defensively on the yellow side, but his 23 points were not enough in front of the balanced guest, for whom Yiftach Ziv also took responsibility in the last minutes, finishing with a three that closed out a final interest. The eighth victory of the season for Gilboa / Galil, the champion will have to look much better on Sunday, so a hot derby awaits her against the city rival, Hapoel.
Scored for Maccabi Tel Aviv: Ante Žižić 23 points and 9 rebounds, Elijah Bryant 12, Chris Johnson 8 and 6 rebounds, Othello Hunter, John Dibertolomao, Dori Sahar and Oz Blazer (7 rebounds) 5c A, Yuval Sussman 4 points and 5 rebounds, Dragon Bender 3.
Scored for Gilboa / Galil: Kerry Blackshire 22 points, Joe Thomason 19 and 6 assists, Yotam Hanochi 11 points and 5 rebounds, Amit Gershon 8, Jahiba Floyd 8 and 10 rebounds, Yiftach Ziv 5 and 5 assists, Isaiah Cousins 4 , Chen Kalfon 2.
First quarter: 14:16 to Gilboa / Galil
Maccabi Tel Aviv quintet: Chris Jones, Yuval Sussman, Oz Blazer, Dragon Bender and Othello Hunter.
Gilboa / Galil Quintet: Yiftach Ziv, Joe Thomason, Amit Gershon, Kerry Belkshire and Jahiba Floyd.
The teams started the match with a shocking offensive ability, when it took almost three minutes for Kerry Blackshire to be the first to get on the board with points under the basket and an offense, which raised Gilboa to 0: 3. Maccabi looked quite confused in the first minutes and the first points were by Chris Jones, who scored twice from the line and saw on the other side Amit Gershon stitches a three that raised the visitors to 2: 6, Thomason buried another three and the Northerners already started to run away.
It took the Yellows 7 minutes to get into the game, but when it happened, it happened very quickly. The champion started playing and a 0:10 run ended with two points from Oz Blazer from the line, 9:12 to the host. Gilboa did not panic, Chen Kalfon who came up great from the bench led to a 2: 7, 14:16 run for Gilboa in the first quarter.
Second quarter 30:34 to Gilboa / Galil
The second quarter opened with a much higher team on the part of the two teams, which began to loosen up. Ante Žižić rose excellently from the bench and scored 6 consecutive points that set a tie 22:22 after 3 minutes and 18 seconds within the quarter. After the timeout, Chris Jones also started to get into things and put the Yellows in first place in the second quarter. The guest disappeared a bit, but again pressed the gas pedal and regained the advantage, as Kerry Belkshire was very dominant under the basket and two of his points from the line raised the guest to 26:29. Maccabi was not good, and on the other side Gilboa played just great basketball in the last minutes of the quarter. Chris Jones committed a technical foul and allowed Joe Thomasson to set up a promising 26:33 lead, but the hosts got into things towards the end of the first half and points from Elijah Bryant and Othello Hunter put her down with a reasonable lead at the break, 34:30.
Third quarter 55:57 to Maccabi Tel Aviv
The third quarter opened well for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Kerry Belkshire did continue to score under the basket, but from the other side a three by Dragon Bender and two more by Zizic under the basket from an offensive rebound and another Bryant points gave her back the lead, 36:38. But Gilboa has always been there. The guest fought for every ball, moved the ball nicely and Jahiba Floyd, with a great dunk under the basket from an offensive rebound raised it to 40:42. Maccabi always came close, much thanks to the great ability of Žižić, but on the other hand Balkashir was just passionate and with a three-pointer raised Gilboa to 46:50. Yannis Sapropoulos picked up the bench from John Dibertolomao who scored a three-pointer, but Yotam Hanochi responded with one of his own on the other side before Blazer continued the three-pointer blitz, 54:55 to Gilboa. By the end of the quarter, a three-point move by Hunter lowered the Yellows by an advantage to the final 10 minutes, 55:57.
Fourth quarter
The close battle continued well into the opening of the final quarter. Kerry Blackshire went on to be the main executor of Gilboa and Thomason stitched a three-pointer that returned the advantage to the visitors, 60:62. Great fight of the northerners. At the beginning of the quarter, Gilboa received a significant boost, when Othello Hunter suffered a technical foul, threw unnecessary words to the referee and was sent off with a direct dismissal. Gilboa took advantage of the chin’s dismissal and continued to control. Thomasson fired from every corner when on the other hand, Elijah Bryant’s points dropped to 69:64, Yannis took a timeout to stir up his players before the game ran out. Maccabi continued to lose its head, and Gilboa’s advantage continued to tap. Bryant committed an unsportsmanlike offense and raised the visitors to 74:66, Zizic was the only one who functioned for the Yellows and managed to reduce the difference a bit. Zizic continued to try to get the host back on track, but on the other side, Ziv opened a three-pointer that put Gilboa / Galil up to their record advantage, 77:68, a minute to go and since then, the Yellows have not been able to get back on track for a second loss this season.
