Jerusalem wins open over Nes Ziona, Afula and Herzliya victorious

Oct 6, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Nes Ziona 81-74 to take the win in their Israel league season opener on the road ahead of their EuroCup clash against Hamburg on Wednesday. It wasn’t pretty for the most part as the teams worked off some of their preseason rust, but Jared Harper and Austin Wiley led the way for Yonatan Alon’s squad while Bryce Brown along with Ricky Lindo paced Amit Sherf’s side as the game stayed close throughout. However, triples by Harper and Speedy Smith closed out the victory for the capital city squad and sent them off to Europe with a smile.

Jared Harper – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman


Harper scored 20 points, Wiley added 18 points and Yovel Zoosman chipped in with 10 points in the win. Brown and Lindo scored 17 points each as Darnell Edge scored 16 points in the loss.

Yonatan Alon – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


“I’m happy with the win,” Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon said. “There were minutes I was happy with and some that I wasn’t. But all in all this just the start of the season and winning games right now is the most important thing.”

Amit Sherf – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


“The ceremony before the game was very emotional as we are at the year mark since October 7th. I hope that all of the hostages will return and that our soldiers will be safe,” Nes Ziona head coach Amir Sherf began. “The game allowed us to take a break from all of the news which was a good escape for a bit. As for the game itself, we were able to defend well at the start of the game and we took a lead after the first quarter. We gave Jerusalem some gifts which you just can’t do or else you will pay the price. This was a game that we should have won at home.”

Austin Wiley – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


Austin Wiley spoke about the win as well as his connection with his former Auburn teammate Jared Harper as well as improving each game, “The connection with all of my teammates is very important to be successful. Jared and I have a history and we want to take Jerusalem to the places where the club wants to go. I don’t think that this is my best version, but I want to get better going forward and keep improving and we keep working towards that. I feel like we are heading towards the right direction and we are working hard with coach and looking to improve every game.”

Darnell Edge – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


Darnell Edge looked back at his team’s performance as weeks as where he believes the squad can go this season, “We fought pretty hard and the game went down to the last seconds. We controlled parts of the game starting in the first quarter but made some mistakes on our defensive principles. We are a very talented group of guys but the game started with the first game jitters for both teams as we were both sloppy. But we are a team that believes in ourselves and we will continue to build and work on the little things. I believe we will be competing for one of the top spots. I could have taken care of the ball a bit better but overall winning is my biggest priority.”

Jared Harper and Austin Wiley – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


Austin Wiley and Jared Harper got things going for Hapoel Jerusalem while Tzvi Ben Moshe and Darnell Edge were key for Nes Ziona as a triple by Tomer Levinson at the end of the first quarter gave the hosts a 19-13 lead.

Justin Smith – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


Harper hooked up with Justin Smith for a pair of baskets, Speedy Smith knocked down a 3-pointer, Harper and Bryce Brown traded triples, Yovel Zoosman went from the outside and inside, while Wiley began dominating the paint with points a plenty as Noam Dovrat added a deuce on a drive to the hoop to hand the reds a 40-33 advantage at halftime.

Bryce Brown – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


Brown started the third quarter on fire for Amit Sherf’s team, Harper stopped the run but Ben Moshe went from deep, Ricky Lindo scored inside to tie the game up at 46 midway through the period. Dovrat went from beyond the arc, Harper added a layup, Lindo responded but a Wiley dunk and Zoosman deuce gave Yonatan Alon’s squad a 58-53 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Speedy Smith – Photo credit: Yehuds Halickman


Justin Smith and Lindo traded baskets inside to begin the fourth quarter, Edge put in a 3-point play and added a corner 3-ball, Lindo put down a monster dunk and then went from downtown but 3-pointers by Harper and Speedy Smith closed out the win.

Photo credit: Basket.co.il


Hapoel Afula dominated Kiryat Ata 84-67 as Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad had 6 players who scored in double digits to notch the win. JP Tokoto, Sandy Cohen and Armaan Franklin all scored 14 points as Jalen Lecque added 13 points in the win while Silvio De Souza scored 18 points and JJ Kaplan chipped in with 13 points in the loss.

Photo credit: Basket.co.il


Bnei Herzliya clipped Hapoel Galil Elyon 93-87 thanks to a fabulous second quarter that saw Chris Silva and Jimmy Clark lead Yehu Orland’s team to a 29-13 frame and out the visitors in the lead for good. Silva scored 19 points, Daeshon Francis added 18 points, Clark scored 15 points and Ethan Burg out in 13 points in the win while Marcus Carr and Lukas Goldenberg and Marcus Carr each scored 19 points in the loss.

Sign up for our newsletter

0 Comments

You may also like…

Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates. 

You have Successfully Subscribed!