Hapoel Jerusalem squeaked by Bnei Herzliya 89-86 to advance to the Israel State Cup final after an intense 40-minute battle at the Pais Arena in the capital.
Jared Harper was named the MVP of the game as the Reds will find out who their opponent will be on Thursday night in the title game after Monday’s late second semifinal, which featured a Tel Aviv derby between Maccabi and Hapoel.
In a back-and-forth game from the tip-off, Yovel Zoosman and Justin Smith took control early on, but Jimmy Clark, Chris Silva, and John Meeks countered to keep Herzliya in front 25-20 after the opening quarter. However, Zoosman continued to find the basket, as did Harper and Smith, while Sneed and Clark countered to keep Yehu Orland’s team close. Still, Yonatan Alon’s team took a 42-39 advantage into halftime.
The second half saw Silva start to really impact the inside, while Zoosman and Clark traded baskets, as did Harper and Sneed, to keep the Reds in the driver’s seat heading into the final frame, holding a slim 65-64 lead. Chris Johnson scored a pair of key baskets for Jerusalem, while Harper kept finding the hoop as well. But once again, Sneed, Clark, and Silva kept Herzliya right there as the lead switched hands numerous times down the stretch.
With 14 seconds left and Jerusalem ahead 87-86 thanks to Zoosman’s free throw, Meeks came up short on an open three-pointer, Austin Wiley hit a pair from the charity stripe, and Ethan Burg missed a last-gasp triple to tie the game up as Alon’s side punched their ticket to the final.
Harper scored 24 points, Zoosman added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Smith put in 15 points in the win. Silva scored 21 points, Sneed chipped in with 18 points, and Clark scored 16 points in the loss.
They played very well
“You have to give credit to Bnei Herzliya. They played very well, and they really hit the right spots,” Alon said. “The little things made an impact. Austin Wiley grabs an offensive rebound here and there, and it’s the small details that win games. I won’t take too much from the game itself, as we didn’t play well enough. We made mistakes on defense. We’ll play against a different team, no matter who it is in the final. We’ll let the guys rest, recover, see who the opponent is, and have two days to prepare.”
“John Meeks had a good shot, and it was just short,” Orland said. “It’s so hard right now to go over the game and focus just on the end. It’s the entire game – so many things happened. We put a lot of pressure on the guards, and we saw that Jared Harper, with 24 points, wasn’t as good as he had been recently. I’m very content with how we played, but we have to go back, look at the video, and see what we can improve on.”
Harper spoke about the keys to the win and how he was able to adjust to play a better second half and help the team secure the victory.
“We stayed together as a team. We had a lot of good efforts. Overall, it was a team effort and a good job from everybody. We didn’t want to give him too good of a look and maybe foul. I was there, and he missed a good shot – I’m glad we finished off with the win. Every game, I try to take what’s in front of me, stick to the game plan, and I got into a rhythm in the second half. It may not always be scoring as the focus but making the right play and taking the right shots.”
Zoosman also talked about the win.
“I don’t have an answer for exactly what play decided the game – it was a basket here and a basket there. Austin Wiley snatched the ball on a pass to Silva. We missed quite a few free throws, especially at the end of the game, but I think Herzliya played very well, and they are a very high-quality team. I’m glad we won, but it was a 40-minute game that could have gone either way, just like last year’s semifinal.”
Sneed reflected on the loss.
“I love to play basketball, and I do everything I can to play basketball and to entertain. It was a close game. Free throws win games, and you have to hit them. Critical stops and rebounds – it’s about the little things. If I go back and see the film, there are so many small details that we had to pay attention to. We wanted to go to the final – everyone did – and it was frustrating for us all. But we will get back onto the floor, and everything will be alright. If we can take things from here, then we can grow.”