Sweep It: Hapoel in the Semis after 3-0 over Holon

After meeting in the Winner Cup final and the State Cup final, Hapoel and Maccabi Tel Aviv will also face off this year in the playoff semifinals – their first series against each other in 11 years. The cup holders made an 11-0 run against the injured Holon at the end of the first half, extended their lead in the third quarter, and completed a 3-0 sweep in the playoff quarterfinal series with a 75-93 home victory – their first sweep in a best-of-five series since 2019.

The first two games of the series were very close, but this time Yonatan Alon's team managed to seal the deal early thanks to a cohesive and generous team offense. Jacorey Williams and Chris Johnson, as usual, brought the energy and finished well in the paint, while Speedy Smith – who changed the game with two consecutive three-pointers late in the second quarter – and Noam Dovrat managed the game well. The bad news for the Reds was the injury to captain Levi Randolph, who sprained his ankle in the second quarter, did not return to the court in the second half, and will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury.



Hapoel started with a lineup featuring Speedy Smith, Or Cornelius, Levi Randolph, Nimrod Levi, and Jacorey Williams, while Holon started with DeAndre Barnes, Shawn Dawson, Netanel Artzi, Drew Crawford, and Kevin Harvey. The visitors began better with three-pointers from Harvey and Barnes, and a basket from Crawford sent Yonatan Alon to a timeout trailing 10-2. Williams got the hosts into the game, and Randolph hit his first three-pointer, but Dawson and Artzi maintained the lead, 14-18. Kadeem Carrington and Chris Johnson led a comeback off the bench, and a basket by Barnes reduced the gap to 24-23 after 10 minutes.



Shahar Amir joined the three-point celebration, Barnes continued to impress, and Harvey's additional basket set the score at 28-33. Levi minimized the damage, Harvey in good minutes ensured the lead was increased again, Randolph scored his last basket before injuring his ankle and heading to the locker room for treatment, and Crawford set the score at 40-34. A three-pointer by Cornelius shifted the momentum, Williams dominated the paint and also sent Carrington for an easy dunk with a great pass, forcing Amit Serf to call a timeout, and Artzi set the score at 41-42 from the free-throw line. A pair of three-pointers from Smith put the Reds in the lead, Oz Blayzer, playing his first minutes in the series, added another, and Johnson scored off an offensive rebound to cap an 11-0 run that opened a double-digit lead for the first time, 42-52 at halftime.

Barnes and Dawson came back strong from the locker room and cut the lead back to single digits, but Yuval Zoosman joined the outside scorers, and a dunk by Johnson set the score at 48-61. Smith stole the ball and sent Zoosman for a layup, Levi extended the lead to 17 points, Crawford reduced it with a three-pointer, but Johnson increased it again from the free-throw line to 51-67. Noam Dovrat set up Zoosman for a bank shot, Yotam Hanochi got on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws, Dovrat excited the crowd with a three-point play, and at the end of the third quarter, Hapoel led 54-75.



Smith repeatedly looked for Tyus at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and the lead climbed to 24 points, but Dawson returned from a timeout determined to keep the game open, cutting it to 81-65. A three-pointer by Zoosman and a floater by Carrington extended the lead again, Dawson hit another three-pointer, but Zoosman’s putback off an offensive rebound made it 68-89. The Jerusalem crowd began to celebrate, both coaches went deep into their benches, Afek Amsalem "got into the newspaper," and in the end, Hapoel secured a convincing 93-75 victory, completing a 3-0 sweep in the quarterfinals.

 

Hapoel Scorers:
Johnson 16 (6-7 from the field, 4-4 FT, 6 rebounds) Williams 15 (5-7 from the field, 5-5 FT, 7 rebounds)
Zoosman 15 (4-6 2PT, 2-3 3PT, 4 assists) Carrington 9 (3-4 2PT, 1-5 3PT) Randolph 7 Smith 6 (7 assists) Levi 6 (3-7 from the field) Tyus 5 Dovrat 4 (6 assists) Amsalem 4 נCornelius 3 Blayzer 3

Holon Scorers:
Dawson 18 (5-8 2PT, 2-5 3PT, 2-4 FT, 4 assists) Harvey 18 (3-6 2PT and FT, 3-5 3PT, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) Crawford 15 (3-5 2PT, 3-7 3PT) Barnes 9 (3-8 2PT, 1-4 3PT) Amir 6 (1-3 2PT and FT, 1-6 3PT)
Artzi 4 (1-6 from the field) Hanochi 3 (3-4 FT, 4 assists) Altshuler 2