Hapoel Holon downed Bnei Herzliya 99-84 as the trio of Tray Croft, Adama Sanogo and Kevion Taylor were too much to handle in the 2-0 quarterfinal series sweep as the purples advanced to the semifinals where they will face Maccabi Tel Aviv beginning on Monday night at Yad Eliyahu.

Predrag Krunic’s team controlled the pace of play throughout the matchup and finally were able to pull away at the start of the fourth quarter when Croft hit a quartet of baskets to build up a double digit lead and run away with the win. Sanogo scored 26 points, Taylor added 21 points and Croft put in 19 points in the victory while Zack Bryant scored 20 points and added 13 assists, Justin Edler-Davis put in 19 points and Bruinsma scored 18 points in the loss.

Predrag Krunic – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman

Holon Head Coach Predrag Krunic spoke about the win, “This was a typical playoff game with both teams a bit nervous in the first half. The second half we saw some better basketball and our guys deserved to win the series. It was a really good win and now we have to prepare for the semifinals. We prepare from game to game and we knew that we were going to see some experienced guys and we would have to play good baketeball but we also played very well defensively. We knew that if we played with the right intensity we could win the series.”

Yehu Orland – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman

Bnei Herzliya Head Coach Yehu Orland discussed the defeat, “This was too tough for us as we came into the series without a ball handler that we had with us for the majority of the season as Mac Heidegger left due to the war. Without a secondary ball handler it’s very tough. We did the best we could in this series and the guys were able to do the best we could including Chinanu Onuaku who had been with us for most of the season and then rejoined us a few days before the playoffs.”

Lior Carreira reflected on the victory, “Wow, it was a great game from us. We didn’t start off as well as we wanted to and the intensity dropped a bit, but we knew how to make sure that we would bring home the win as we headed into the fourth quarter. This has felt like many seasons all in one but the coach really brings something special to the team and we all are fighting for one cause.”

Shalev Lugashi – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman

Shalev Lugashi looked back at the loss, “It wasn’t a good game from us and we lost out pace and confidence. Things didn’t go the way we wanted and it’s too bad we couldn’t do what we wanted to. It’s hard to bring a new player a few days before the the series and we had a lot of issues that we couldn’t solve, we wanted and we tried to overcome them but we couldn’t.”

Panama Sanogo – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman

Chinanu Onuaku, Evan Bruinsma and Zack Bryant scored for Bnei Herzliya while Adama Sanogo and Yair Kravits poured in the points for Hapoel Holon to give the purples a 26-22 lead after ten minutes of play. Tray Croft and Darin Green found points to begin the second quarter, Justin Edler-Davis, Bruinsma and Bryant responded but Lior Carreira, Kevion Taylor and Sanogo kept Predrag Krunic’s team in front 49-45 at halftime.

Tray Croft – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman

Edler-Davis and Bryant both went from deep to get the third quarter off and running, Taylor came back with a pair from beyond the arc, Onuaku and Bryant scored while a 3-point play by Edler-Davis pulled Yehu Orland’s team to within a point, 68-67 after thirty minutes of action. Croft started to fill the bucket to begin the final frame, Taylor and Sanogo added points to bump the lead up to double digits, Bruinsma tried to keep Herzliya relevant but it was too little to late as Holon wrapped up the series.