Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Nes Ziona 78-63 thanks to superb play by Jaylen Hoard to punch their ticket to the State Cup Final 4. The yellow-and-blue came flying out of the gate to grab a 10-0 lead as Hoard dominated the paint while Levi Randolph and Roman Sorkin helped out in the first half while Tamir Blatt and Marial Shayok extended the lead to keep Ricky Lindo, Yair Kravits and Bryce Brown at bay in the second half to cruise to the victory.

Hoard scored 23 points, Shayok added 11 points and Sorkin scored 10 points in the win. Lindo scored 14 points Kravits put in 12 points and Brown scored 11 points in the loss.

“It was a good game for us but we could have played better on the second half,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “We defended well and I’m happy as how we began the game and set the tone. We’re disappointed with how we have played in Europe and we then have to turn our sights to the domestic competitions.”

“We let Maccabi take a 10-0 lead me at we had to chase after them,” Nes Ziona Head Coach Amit Sherf said. “We had to be aggressive on defense, get the rebounds and make sure that you don’t give up points at the end of the shot clock which were all issues in the first half. We did it better in the second but by then it was too late.”

Marial Shayok spoke about the keys to the win, “I think that this was a great team effort and we got off to a good start which is something that we hadn’t done quite recently. So that was good to see from the starting five and everybody coming together to start the game locked in which carried on throughout the game.”

“We didn’t advance to State Cup semifinals because we weren’t aggressive enough and when you aren’t aggressive against Maccabi on their home court you’re not going to be able to win. We were down 10-0 to start the game and we didn’t rebound properly and if you can’t play Maccabi properly here then you are going to lose.”

Roman Sorkin dialled up from long distance, Levi Randolph put in a 3-point play, Jaylen Hoard dunked and Rokas Jokubatis hit a jumper to give Maccabi Tel Aviv a quick 10-0 lead, Tzuf Ben Moshe found points, Yair Kravits scored from the inside and outside and Ricky Lindo put in a deuce for Nes Ziona, but a pair of monster dunks by Hoard, a corner 3-ball from Marial Shayok followed up by a 3-point play gave the yellow-and-blue a 26-13 lead after ten minutes of play.

Jasiel Rivero put the ball off the glass for points, Jokubatis drilled home a triple, Hoard hit a jumper, Bryce Brown and Hoard traded baskets from deep, Jerome Meyinsse put in a deuce, Brown went from beyond the arc and Rafi Menco scored as Maccabi took a 45-27 lead at halftime.

Lindo and Kravits opened the third quarter with points, Tamir Blatt dialled up for a trio of triples, Rivero scored inside, Hoard dunked, Ryan Turell dunked and Itay Segev scored but Maccabi stayed in front 60-41 after thirty minutes of action.

Shayok led off the fourth quarter from downtown, Darnell Edge and Turell came back with points, Jake Cohen scored in the paint, Meyinsse countered, Edge drilled home a corner 3-ball, Menco scored a driving layup, Randolph went in for a breakaway dunk while Hoard put in another pair of baskets to wrap up the win.