The cup holder advanced to the semi-finals of the playoffs

The quarter-final stage of the playoffs was completed tonight (Sunday) at the Yovel Arena at the end of a particularly volatile game: Hapoel "Bank Yahav" Jerusalem escaped to 20 points in the first quarter, Bnei Herzliya came back in each quarter with a big run, but the lead remained red throughout the evening, en route to a 61:86 victory, which closes a 1:3 victory in the series. The cup holder will meet Hapoel Tel Aviv in the semi-finals: the first game will be held at Pais Arena on Wednesday, the second on Saturday night at Shlomo Group Arena, and the third, if necessary, 48 hours later. All games will start at 21:00.

Aleksandar Dzikic's team arrived very sharp, kept excellent form in the first minutes, and with a flood of threes, ran away to an early lead. The red offense was led by the three backline players: Speedy Smith was again hot from beyond the arc and closed a tremendous series of games against Herzliya this season; Levi Randolph was there from the first moment with great actions; and Khadeen Carrington came up hot in the last quarter and was responsible for closing the story. On the defensive side, Or Cornelius, the defensive player of the season, stood out with relentless pressure on the ball, as did Zach Hankins, who once again locked down the paint.

Great atmosphere (Photo: oded Karni)

Course of the game

Herzeliya started with Quinton Hawker, Oded Brandwein, Chris Babb, Morris Kemp, and Julian Gamble, and Jerusalem with Speedy Smith, Or Cornelius, Levi Randolph, TJ Cline, and Zach Hankins. The opening was for the host, who didn't score a single point for two and a half minutes and, with free kicks by Kemp and a characteristic three-pointer by Babb, went up to 0:5. Randolph put the Reds on the board with a shot from beyond the arc in transition, the pressure of Smith and Cornelius on the ball produced turnovers close to the ring, and the active Klein closed with nine unanswered points. Bab scored, but Randolph and Cornelius, in impressive actions, opened a double-digit gap, 7:17. Smith and Randolph continued the run to make Jerusalem 4-of-5 from downtown. Carter stopped a run at 2:23 with a pair of free throws, but Smith immediately buried two more 3-pointers at 9:29. Babb's free throws narrowed the score to 29:11 at the end of a one-sided quarter, in which the host shot only 2 of 10 from the field compared to 6 of 10 for the guests' threes.

Smith. Great first quarter for the cup holders (Photo: Oded Karni)

Noam Yaacov and Khadeen Carrington came off the bench and joined the celebration on the way to a record lead of 21 points, but Kemp all by himself got Herzliya into the game, and the gap dropped to 33:19 after a basket and a foul by Babb. Gamble closed a 0:9 run with his debut points; Carrington broke a mini-drought with a three, but Babb immediately answered him and also squeezed a foul in the process, 36:25. Gambel's polo dunk brought the deficit back to single digits and then 2 easy in transition. Jerusalem came back from a timeout with Carrington shooting from the baseline. Randolph took advantage of a miss to score in motion and then found Carrington for a three in transition, 29:43. Randolph continued the run even after a local timeout; Gamble and Kemp committed attacking fouls; Klein found Hankins for a dunk at the end of a great attack; and his basket closed a 0:13 run that determined 29:49 at the break.

Only one team came back from the locker rooms to start the third quarter: Yair Kravitz caught everyone with his enthusiasm, Gambel worked excellently under the baskets, and the hot father led a 0:13 counter run that shrank to 49:42. Smith broke a four-and-a-half-minute drought with a three-pointer, but Kemp immediately answered him. Babb scored from the line after a technicality for Smith, and together with Kravitz, they reduced the deficit to only one point, 52:51. Smith again stopped the run with an important three-pointer; Hawker immediately answered him, but Hankins scored from an offensive rebound, and a crazy three-pointer by Randolph at the buzzer increased the shot clock to 54:60. Kravitz's 3-pointer closed a big quarter for him and his team within touching distance, only 60:57.

Cline with a great game (Photo: Oded Karni)

Carrington started the fourth quarter excellently with 5 points that sent Oren Aharoni to a timeout after less than a minute. The fatigue started to speak on both sides of the field, and after a series of barren attacks, Hawker narrowed it down to 65:59 from half distance. Carrington continued to celebrate and opened a double-digit gap with two more baskets. A crazy triple by Smith brought him to 20 points, and Carrington, with a steal and a dunk, made it 59:74 in the middle of the fourth quarter. From here, the host did not recover, Carrington did not take his foot off the pedal, and with the help of Smith and Randolph, the Reds sent the Reds to the semi-finals after 61:86 in the game and 1:3 in the series.

Hankins against Hawker (Photo: Oded Karni)

Bnei Herzliya: Bab 26 (3-6 for twos, 3-10 for threes, 11-11 from the line), Gambel 11 (5-8 from the field, 1-3 from the line, 7 rebounds, 3 steals), Kemp 10 (3-12 from the field, 3-4 from the line, 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers), Kravitz 7 (3-5 from the field, 4 assists), Hawker 5 (2-10 from the field), Carter 2. Also practicipated: Brandwein (5 turnovers), Michaeli Wartman.

Hapoel "Bank Yahav" Jerusalem: Carrington 26 (8-10 for two, 3-6 for three), Smith 22 (6-8 for three, 2-6 for two), Randolph 20 (5-10 for two, 3-7 for three), Klein 6 (3-7 from the field), Hankins 4 (2-8 from the field, 12 rebounds), Cornelius (1-5 from the field, 3 steals), Sevgav 3 each, Yaakov 2. Also practicipated: Vene and Blayzer.