Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Holon 90-81, as Roman Sorkin, Jaylen Hoard, and Rokas Jokubatis played an unstoppable role in securing the yellow-and-blue's Game 1 semifinal victory.
Oded Katash’s squad will seek to secure its spot in the league finals when it travels to Holon on Friday for the second game of the best-of-3 series.
In the other semifinal, Hapoel Tel Aviv will take a 1-0 series lead into Wednesday night’s Game 2 in the capital.
Dakarai Tucker had a strong start for the visitors, while Jokubatis and Sorkin scored for the hosts as the game began with fast-paced, end-to-end action. Sorkin continued to rack up points, and a pair of dunks by Hoard propelled Maccabi to an 11-1 run to close out the first half with a 46-36 lead.
Tucker continued to find opportunities from beyond the arc while Justin Alston and Michale Kyser contributed to the scoring for the Purples. However, a series of 3-pointers by Levi Randolph, John DiBartolomeo, and Will Rayman kept the yellow-and-blue in the lead, 68-60, at the end of the third quarter.
Sorkin kept finding the bottom of the basket, but Mike Davis started to heat up while Tucker also scored, cutting the lead to just four points. However, Levi Randolph hit a tough two-pointer, and Jokubatis dialed up from long distance to close out the game for good.
Sorkin scored 20 points, Hoard added 14 points, and Jokubatis scored 12 points in the win. Tucker scored 22 points, Davis put in 17 points, and Alston scored 10 points in the loss.
“I think overall I really liked the way we played,” Katash said. “We didn’t start as we wanted to, but that was to be expected after a two-week break. The last three quarters were very good, but Holon is a very dangerous team and they hit some crazy shots in the fourth. The rebound advantage and second-chance points won us the game.”
The bench boss also commented about having had a lengthy break between games.
“We waited for this game for quite some time, and it’s not healthy to have such a long wait, but we did the maximum during the break. Still, some of the guys were rusty, and you could both feel and see that during the 40 minutes. We didn’t know how we would play after the time off, and you never know how things will turn out, but in this case, we were able to win. Friday is going to be a totally different game, and we have to learn from this one to see where we need to improve and make adjustments.”
“We started well and were very focused,” Holon coach Guy Kaplan began. “We took advantage of Maccabi being a bit rusty and it was a close game, but the rebound situation was tough for us and we had to start chasing them after the second quarter.”
New general manager hired
In other Maccabi Tel Aviv news, Claudio Coldebella was named as the club’s new general manager after Avi Even departed earlier in the season.
The Italian has held the same role at a number of other European clubs and will lead the yellow-and-blues’ revamped professional team. The 56-year-old former guard, who won titles in both Italy and Greece, most recently served as General Manager of Reggiana (Reggio Emilia) in the Italian League.
Prior to that, Coldebella held similar roles at Caserta, Treviso, Varese, and UNICS Kazan, where he assembled a formidable roster that impressed in the Euroleague before Russian clubs were suspended.
As a player, Coldebella was known as a tenacious and energetic guard. He began his playing career with modest Italian clubs Mestre and Desio, before joining Virtus Bologna in 1989. That same year, he made his debut with the Italian national team, with whom he won a silver medal at EuroBasket 1997.
He is married to Greek actress Hristina Papa. He faced Maccabi many times while playing for Virtus, AEK Athens, PAOK Thessaloniki, and Olimpia Milano.
His career includes winning three Italian League championships and a domestic cup title, a EuroLeague Final appearance with AEK, and a Greek Cup win with PAOK. After retiring, he spent two years as an assistant coach at Olimpia Milano.