Hapoel Dominates Holon at the Arena!

After the victory in Malha against Ironi Kiryat Ata, Hapoel secured their first win of the season at the Arena on Saturday night, dominating throughout the 40 minutes to a resounding 91-66 victory over Holon in the fourth round of the league.

Game Summery:
Hapoel's lineup: Speedy Smith, Kadin Carrington, Or Cornelius, Chris Johnson, Justin Smith.  
Holon's lineup: Niv Mishgav, Elijah Mitrou-Long, Jalen Adams, Idan Zalmanson, Marcus Bingham.

Carrington scored the first points of the game with an athletic drive, and on the other end, Adams responded with his own two points against his former team. Later, Cornelius found Justin Smith for an easy dunk. Smith also added two free throws against his team from last season. Mishgav found Bingham for a paint score, but Hapoel's center was again in the spotlight, making a follow-up on a missed shot by Cornelius, before committing a foul on Zalmanson, who completed a three-point play. Both big men added another basket in the paint each, and then Adams received a beautiful pass from Mitrou-Long to tie the game 11-11. Cornelius continued his active start and drove to the basket, with Adams again tying the game with two free throws. Gabi Chachashvili came off the bench and immediately made his presence felt in the paint, which helped Yovel Zoosman hit the first three-pointer of the game for Hapoel. Tucker responded with two points on a nice mid-range shot, and Yiftach Ziv tied the game with two free throws. Jared Harper, who came off the bench and already contributed two assists, scored five consecutive points with a quick drive to the basket and a fast-break three-pointer. Gods called a timeout, and after it, Mishgav responded with a beautiful drive, but Carrington answered with a nice drive of his own to end the quarter 24-19 in favor of Hapoel.  

Jeremy Morgan stole the ball at the start of the second quarter and ran for an easy dunk. Harper added a three-pointer from the corner after a few fruitless possessions by both teams and pushed Hapoel to a double-digit lead. Later, he added another dunk on a fast break that forced Gods to call another timeout after a 14-2 red run. Holon continued to struggle against the home team's defense, while on the other end, Justin Smith came back from the bench with another typical basket in the paint. Then Bingham hit Holon's first three-pointer of the game. Carrington responded with his first three-pointer of the season, but Adams answered with an accurate shot from the same range. Johnson added another basket in the paint for Hapoel, Justin Smith corrected a missed shot under the basket, and then Carrington stole the ball and ran the length of the court for two points to make it 42-25. The purple-yellows kept missing three-pointers, and the red momentum continued with Harper hitting another shot from the perimeter, followed by a steal and a coast-to-coast play that finished with an acrobatic basket and an and-one. Holon finally got some points from Adams, who also benefitted from a touch on the backboard by Chachashvili, but Harper continued his perfect half by finding Zoosman for an alley-oop. Johnson translated another Jerusalem steal into easy points, and Hapoel led 52-27 at halftime after a 35-10 red run from the end of the first quarter.  


Harper. A perfect first half (Photo: Danny Maron)

Even the halftime break couldn’t cool down the hosts. Justin Smith opened the second half with a powerful dunk from a Speedy Smith assist, who later added another dunk on a fast break, and Carrington hit a three-pointer to make it a 30-point lead. Bingham scored two from the free-throw line, Mishgav made an easy layup and then added a nice pass to Adams for another layup, forcing Jonathan Alon to call a timeout. Adams cut into the lead with two more points, but Johnson stopped Holon's 8-0 run with a characteristic corner three. Bingham scored four points in a row, after an offensive rebound and then from the free-throw line, but on the other end, Morgan received an assist from Harper for an easy two points. Bingham responded with a three-pointer to bring the lead down to 20. Harper made two free throws, Mishgav found Zalmanson with a nice pass, but then Zoosman made a three-pointer from the corner and added a steal and a non-sportsmanlike foul on Tucker. Both teams had a few confused possessions before Speedy Smith made a mid-range shot for his first points of the game, saw Arzi finish a play in the paint, and responded with a three-pointer that sealed the third quarter with a 73-46 scoreline, as Hapoel won the third quarter 21-19.  


Justin Smith. Particularly efficient night for the center (Photo: Danny Maron)

Mitrou-Long hit his first three-pointer of the game, Johnson took advantage of a mistake on the other end for two easy points, and Carrington – on a particularly efficient night – added two free throws. Bingham once again took advantage of his long arms for a dunk in the paint, while Harper ran for an easy layup on the other end, before Ziv stole the ball from Carrington and ran for a fast-break basket. Harper continued his excellent play with a mid-range shot, Mitrou-Long answered with a three-pointer, but Carrington added another two points on a nice drive.