1) Hapoel Gilboa Galil got back onto the winning track when they dropped Nes Ziona at Gan Ner after having come up short in three straight games putting all kinds of pressure on head coach Sharon Avrahami as fans started calling for his dismissal. However, after a victory, all seems to be back to normal in the Galilee. One of the reasons that the club was able to take the win was an incredible performance by Elijah Childs who finally showed what he can provide the team.

After averaging just 5.7 points in 6 games, Childs went off in a big way against Nes Ziona with 24 points including going 3/8 from deep to earn game MVP honors as he played a very pivotal role in the win. One thing is clear, when Childs and Ish El-Amin are both hitting their shots and scoring 20+ points a game, Gilboa Galil is going to win.

Childs featured in Germany last season and has also played in Italy and Denmark after having attended Bradley University between 2017-21. The big man who primarily played as a center for both Ludwigsburg and Heidelberg averaged 11.6 points and grabbed 6.2 boards over the course of 40 games. With Gilboa he is playing a mix of both the 4 and the 5 and he certainly hopes that this was his breakout game, but only time will tell which version of Elijah Childs will be playing from now on?

“He’s a great guy and a good character,” Avrahami said of Childs. “He’s a very good defender and he played the offense that we wanted him to. It’s never easy to come into a team that has been playing together and it took time for him to find his place.”

“He’s a good player and we still need to learn everything about him and how best to play with him. His 3-pointers went in and that’s a good aspect as he took 18 shots which means he is feeling more comfortable with the team. He played well for the entire game and I really hope that this play will continue.”

Gil Beni also shared his thoughts about his teammate, “He is a great player, has a great shot and he’s going to continue to improve. He is a super athlete, but when someone comes to a new team in the middle of the season it’s never easy to acclimate. The better the guards play then Childs will benefit from that as well.”

Hopefully, with a bit of break due to the State Cup weekend coming up and another roster addition, Avrahami will be able take this team to the promised land.

2) Over on the Bnei Herzliya bench it looked as if there was going to be some sort of Armageddon that was about to take place in a loss to Maccabi Ramat Gan that saw poor body language, complaints and just bitterness from the players almost across the board. Jimmy Clark was subbed out less than a minute into the game against Maccabi Ramat Gan, Xavier Sneed went 1/15 on a night that absolutely nothing would fall and that is just to name a couple of issues that rookie head coach Yehu Orland had to deal with. Add to that chairman Eldad Akunis sitting on the bench barking out the orders, yelling and screaming as well and it was a night that Orland would like to forget.

Even in the postgame press conference, Orland was on the defense saying right away that he had heard that his team has issues etc… before any of the assembled media had a chance to even ask a question.

He spoke about how taking Clark out was not to teach him a lesson and expanded on his thoughts about the guard as well as Sneed’s night to forget, “This wasn’t a lesson and I don’t believe in doing those type of things. I thought Jimmy had three plays at the start of the game that he wasn’t focused on and I wanted to take him out and put him right back in. But Omer Ben David played some quality minutes and I kept him out until later in the period. Jimmy is a rookie and these things are going to happen. I’m not in hysteria and it’s nothing more than just him being a rookie and we will support him.”

“As for Sneed, when a player who is your star is 1/15 you’re going to have some bad body language,” Orland continued. “He defended very well and these things happen on the offensive side of the ball. We need to help these guys so that it doesn’t happen again as we want them to play well. We have a great team and staff that will help one another through the tough times. I’m not stressed about this but we are looking to help them as best as we can.”

Orland has Hapoel Holon up next in the State Cup quarterfinals on Saturday night in what will be a home game, but what will also be a very, very tough game and he’s going to need to get his guys all back on the same page if they want to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

3) Hapoel Galil Elyon under rookie head coach Guni Izraeli has done a superb job with a limited budget while also playing away from their natural home in Kfar Blum up north close to the Lebanon which was ravaged during the recent war with Hezbollah. The Galilee region has always been a hotbed for basketball and Galil Elyon featured many, many up and coming young players who ended up developing into stars. From Oded Katash to Lior Eliyahu and Omri Casspi to name just a few, Galil Elyon is a crucial club for the country and the sport as a whole. In 1993 they won the league championship as well under legendary head coach Pini Gershon as many top Israeli bench bosses honed the craft in the north including David Blatt, Katash and Erez Edelstein as well.

Since the war, Galil Elyon has played their home games in Hadera which is quite a ways away from Kfar Blum, but nonetheless the faithful fans have travelled far and wide across the land to support the team.

One of the most outspoken players who is extremely connected with the area due to family is Galil Elyon’s star Sabra Lior Carreira. The forward who has suffered through a number of knee injuries over the past few years is having a wonderful season with 10.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists while playing an incredible 34 minutes per game.

With that, Carreira spoke about his feelings about returning back to play in the Galilee, “Of course, for me, Kfar Blum is something personal beyond the team. I really love this incredible place that has suffered so much. I think it will do us and the region good by returning to play there and many people are looking forward to it. Whenever it will happen, it will be very good for us.”

Hopefully the move back home will happen sooner rather than later with the ceasefire in effect with Hezbollah. The north is such an important part of the country and it needs to get back to normal as quickly as possible.

4) Kiryat Ata recorded a big win with a very short roster over Hapoel Afula who may be losing their star guard J’Covan Brown over the next few days. This was a terrific win by Eldad Bentov’s squad as he used five regulars plus Yariv Amiram and Gal Baitner to pick up the surprising victory which saw Chris Smith dominate the first half and Liam O’Reilly do the same in the second half to chalk up the win. O’Reilly arrived in Israel for the preseason, left for what was thought to be greener pastures in Lithuania with Juventus when Iran launched an attack on the Jewish State and then returned at the beginning of December to the delight of the club.

The Gardner-Webb product is averaging 16.8 points per game in the 6 games he’s played with the northeners but it’s not just the points, it’s his drive, desire and fight that he shows every single minute on the court (and he’s played plenty of minutes to the tune of 39 against Afula and is averaging 35 per game to date). Keep an sharp eye out on the guard as it looks like he’s got plenty to offer to the Israeli league.

5) Hapoel Afula came up short against Kiryat Ata but one player who stood tall was Israeli rookie Omer Hamama who played sterling defense and helped spur a second half comeback that came up short. The guard, who played on the 2022 Israel U17 Maccabiah team has started earning the trust of head coach Ariel Beit Halachmi by playing extremely tough defense on the likes of Liam O’Reilly (who also did hit some incredible shots on Hamama).

The bench boss played the 21-year old close to ten minutes and was very much involved in the game play while on the court as he also drilled home a corner 3-ball at the end of the third quarter to the delight of the fans, his teammates and especially his parents. Hamama has worked very hard to get where he is to today and he’s starting to prove that he also belongs with the best of the best.

6) Nes Ziona may have been on the road in Gan Ner, but that didn’t mean that the club didn’t have any fans in the stands. In fact, they had close to 200 supporters from an American Yeshiva, Reishit Yerushalayim based in Beit Shemesh who were on a trip around the country and stopped by to see former Yeshiva University star Ryan Turell. The Mashgiach Ruchani of the Yeshiva Rav Eli Marcus was my Madrich at Beit Midrash Le’Totah Yeshiva in Bayity Vegan, Jerusalem way back in 1991! When the D3 star drained a 3-pointer huge cheers came from the new Israeli basketball fans and while Nes Ziona may have lost the game they no doubt gained plenty of new fans.

The 3 Stars: