The Israel Under-18 team downed Croatia 84-66 to advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championships. Head coach Sharon Avrahami’s squad saw Omer Mayer have arguably his best game of the tournament as he used a stellar third quarter to pull away and help lead the young blue-and-white to the victory.

צפו בתקציר הניצחון של נבחרת הנוער על קרואטיה, שהבטיח את המקום ברבע גמר אליפות אירופה pic.twitter.com/kVnJNflaE1

— איגוד הכדורסל הישראלי (@TherealIBBA) July 26, 2023

With the win Israel will remain in Division A for next year’s competition and will now face the winner of the Serbia and Denmark Round of 16 clash.

Omer Mayer and Shachar Doron paced Israel over the course of the first half and helped build up an 11-point lead just before halftime, but Croatia closed out the second quarter with an 8-0 run to close the gap as the blue-and-white stayed in front 38-35.

Alon Michaeli and Ori Cohen began to score as the second half commenced while Omer Mayer scored a layup and knocked down two big triples to score 8 points in under a minute as the third quarter ended to bump the Israel lead back up to double digits and cruise to the 18-point win.

Mayer scored 24 points, Ori Cohen added 16 points and Shachar Doron scored 14 points in the win. Toni Bilic and Luka Francesevic each scored 15 points in the loss.

“We’re very happy and content with the win over Croatia,” Avrahami began. “The staff and players prepared really well and credit to them for executing the plan especially in the second half. We played against a good team and now we have to rest up and ready for a probably game against Serbia.”