Bnei Herzliya downed Hapoel Holon 84-73 to advance to the Israel State Cup semifinals that will take place in the middle of February. The trio of Jimmy Clark, Chris Silva and John Meeks overwhelmed the purples all game long as Idan Zalmanson and Elijah Mitrou-Long paced the visitors who lost Brendan Adams to a foot injury midway through the game.

Clark scored 22 points, Silva added 18 points and Meeks scored 16 points in the win. Zalmanson scored 16 points, Mitrou-Long put in 15 points while Jalen Adams scored 9 points in the loss.

“We are a young team and I’ve said that from the start of the season,” Herzliya coach Yehu Orland said. “Whether it’s Jimmy Clark and Shalev Lugashi or others who haven’t been able to play at the level we do in this country. I told the guys we will win with a winning spirit and you just can’t count on taken alone you have to have spirit and fight as well. As a team and a club is always looking to reach the highest of heights.”

“It wasn’t a good game from us from the get go,” Holon Head Coach Guy Goodes said. “Herzliya was aggressive from the get go and you can see that from the statistics, if it was easy points or shots from beyond the arc. We just didn’t play well. We had injuries and also lost players which we ended up having to scramble which has hurt us.”

Frederic Bourdillon and Dakarai Tucker traded triples to begin the game, Xavier Sneed, Chris Silva and Jimmy Clark all scored for Bnei Herzliya, Elijah Mitrou-Long went from deep, Silva hit a short range jumper as Netanel Artzi came back with points, Brendan Adams knocked down a corner 3-ball, Idan Zalmanson dunked, Clark put in a pair of baskets and Josh Hawley scored as well, but Yotam Hanochi put in a deuce under the bucket to keep Holon close as the hosts led 22-21.

Ethan Burg went from deep, Clark and Sneed scored to get the second quarter underway, Jalen Adams went from deep for the purples, John Meeks answered, Clark and Zalmanson traded dunks, Jalen Adams dialled up long distance and added a deuce, Brendan Adams scored at will while Meeks came back with a bucket to keep Herzliya in front 42-40 at halftime.

Chris Silva scored in bunches to begin the third quarter, Zalmanson and Michale Kyser countered for Guy Goodes’s team, Silva put in a 3-point play, Iftach Ziv scored, Burg, Clark and Meeks came right back with points, Mitrou-Long buried a 3-pointer, Zalmanson scored twice inside, but Omer Ben David kept Yehu Orland’s team in the lead 64-55 after thirty minutes of action.

Meeks went from deep to open up the fourth quarter and then added a deuce, Ziv came back with points, Meeks again dialled up long distance, Clark came in off the wing for a dunk, Mitrou-Long and Burg traded baskets while Xavier Sneed put down an exclamation point dunk to wrap up the win.