Israeli basketball is heating up as the preseason tournament has its finalists just ahead of their respective European campaigns that get underway on Tuesday.
Hapoel Jerusalem downed Maccabi Tel Aviv 79-69 as Jared Harper starred once again to advance to the Winner Cup final. The Reds opened up the game with Harper going from deep and never looked back as Justin Smith, along with Khadeen Carrington, outdueled Lonnie Walker and Jimmy Clark as Hapoel held out a fourth quarter run to take the victory.
Harper scored 22 points and Carrington added 16 points in the win, while Clark scored 16 points and Walker chipped in with 12 points in the loss.
Hapoel coach Yonatan Alon talked about the win.
“You can see that the small things are working well because the guys, for the most part, have been playing together for some time. The biggest part of our success was to sign the core of our team in the middle of last season which set us up for this year. We have a lot of goals to reach this season.”
Jerusalem will head to Hamburg for a Eurocup clash, while Maccabi will play Anadolu Efes in Montenegro, followed by a game against Paris on Friday in Euroleague action.
In the second semifinal, Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel HaEmek 84-65 at the Toto Arena in Holon to advance to the final.
The Reds got off to a good start, but HaEmek grabbed a 36-27 lead early in the second quarter. However, Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad went on a 21-0 run in less than five minutes, taking a 48-36 lead and never looking back.
Dan Otoru excelled with 20 points, eight rebounds, and a 30 efficiency index. Ish Wainwright scored 15 points, and Antonio Blakeney added 13 points. Cameron Henry’s 17 points for Hapoel HaEmek, including a three-pointer from half-court at the end of the first quarter, were not enough.
'They put up a fight'
“I want to congratulate the team on reaching the final and winning the game,” said Itoudis. “Congratulations to the opponent too, they are serious, they put up a fight.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv will now embark on its debut season in the Euroleague with a home-away-from-home date in Sofia against Barcelona and then head to Montenegro for a continental clash with Anadolu Efes.