4th Quarter Breakdown
Roy Rubinstein ,02/11/2008
Hapoel Tel Aviv gave everything they had in the first three quarters but managed just 4 points in the final quarter and gave in, 73-78 to Raanana Hertzeliya. Raanana Hertzeliya moved back to 1st in the standings but must wake up if they plan to stay there.

Raanana Hertzliya 78 – Hapoel Tel Aviv 73
“If we had one more bosman player we would have won this game”, said the frustrated Shira Haelyon after the game. Truth is she’s probably right, Haelyon who was Hapoel’s best player tonight, had to play injured for a full half due to Hapoel’s non-existant bench and the team ran out of air again in the 4th.

Both teams got off to a slow start, the score was tied at 14 with 30 seconds to go in the quarter but a quick basket by Neda Djuric and two more for Tanisha Wright including one at the buzzer gave Raanana Hertzliya a 20-14 lead after 1.

The 2nd quarter was all Hapoel Tel Aviv, who were hot from 3-point range. The visitors made six threes in the quarter, three of them by Haelyon, she made back to back threes to tie the score at 20. Shachar Alterman’s 3 gave Hapoel a 26-25 lead while Mistie Williams & Abiola Wabara were responsible for Raanana Hertzliya’s first five points. Wright’s free throws made it 27-26 but Tamara Bowie with four points put Hapoel up 30-27 three minutes into the 2nd. Haelyon kept Hapoel in front and Liran Buchris joined the 3-point shooting clinc with two straight, Bowie added another basket to make it 41-33 while Katia Levitzky was the only one active in Raanana Hertzliya’s offense. Edneisha Curry pushed Hapoel’s lead to 10 before Williams & Wright did some damage control and cut the lead to 37-43 at the half.

Raanana Hertzliya appeared a bit more awake at the start of 3rd quarter with an 8-0 run. Alterman answered with a 3 and the lead switched sides a few more times. Hapoel was able to rebuild a 6-point lead with a minute to go in the quarter, Yael Aharonov hit a 3 to cut the lead in half but Curry with a crazy three from near halfcourt and another three set the quarter score at 69-60.

Raanana Hertzliya came out with a press and cut the lead to four after 2:30 minutes. Curry scored but Raanana Hertzliya made a 5-0 run to take a 72-71 lead with 5 minutes left. Two more minutes went by before anyone got another point on the board, Chen Nusel scored from the line and it looked like there won’t be an upset after all. A smart steal by Noa Ganor along with Alterman’s 5th foul seemed to seal the deal, Ganor made both free throws to make it 76-71. Even the fact Hapoel cut it to 3 with 90 seconds left or the streak of missed free throws by Neda Djuric didn’t prevent Raanana Hertzliya from winning.

For Raanana Hertzeliya:
Mistie Williams 21 pts, 12 rebs
Tanisha Wright 16 pts
Abiola Wabara 13 pts
Chen Nusel 11 pts
Katia Levitky 6 pts

For Hapoel:
Shira Haelyon 20 pts
Edneisha Curry 17 pts
Tamara Bowie 15 pts
Shachar Alterman 10 pts
Liran Buchris 9 pts






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