Hapoel Holon needed a bit of a wakeup call to comeback in their home game with Hapoel Haifa to take a 96-88 win. Head Coach Stefanos Dedas was ejected with his squad down 70-64 with under two minutes remaining in the second quarter igniting his team to take the 8-point victory.
Willy Workman stepped up big time in Dedas’s absence and recored a career high 21 points on 9/11 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds in an MVP performance, CJ Harris scored an easy 22 points, Tyrus McGee added 21 points and Guy Pnini quietly notched 13 points in the win. Karam Mashour led Haifa with 22 points and Jason Siggers scored 22 points in the loss.
3-Pointers
Willy Workman was fabulous for Holon
There is no doubt that he was a key reason for his squad taking the win and making a terrific comeback. With Chris Johnson out Workman was able to more than admirably fill in on the scoring side using the room his was given with the Holon spread offense to cut to the basket and make a ton of close range shots and layups. Of course, Workman knows that the club needs Chris Johnson at his peak and his importance to the team is unparalleled, “Chris is a Euroleague player I want him on the court all the time and what you all don’t see about him is the communication and the leadership he is the guy at the end of practice when we are shooting our free throws who says: “hey y’all stop joking around focus on the free throws”. Every little thing this guy does. I was trying to step up and be that guy for us today I knew if I focused on my communication and defense everything else would come. I got to play more minutes and it’s fun to play more minutes but we need Chris.”
Dedas knows what Workman does for his squad
Despite being ejected near the end of the third quarter he was still able to watch the game from the other side of the arena and saw first hand once again what his glue guy can do. “Willy didn’t miss more than two shots. He scored well and was a slasher to help us to our 8th win in a row.” But credit also had to go to assistant coach Amit Sherf for leading the team over the last quarter + as Workman sang his praises, “The energy needed to change. When Coach Dedas got thrown out Amit, Chris and me got all the guys together and we said let’s use this. You can either overcome it or let it beat you. We took the former.” As for Workman fitting in with Holon in his first season at the club, “I feel like a glove with the culture and the spirit of the club. This club is based on energy and that’s what I am.”
Holon faces Maccabi Tel Aviv for the Winner Cup on Saturday night at the Drive-In Arena in Tel Aviv for the first title of the season
Usually a preseason tournament, everything went awry for the WINNER Cup with games being postponed due to COVID-19 and of course at no fault to the league whatsoever. We’ll get a competitive game between two teams who are beginning to hit their stride and that’s going to make for a classic matchup with the Yellow & Blue looking for revenge from an earlier loss this season to Holon. “Holon needs to be in the Final 4 of every competition,” said Dedas. “We know Maccabi very well and we have an advantage. The Cup is the type of game for the underdog. I’m excited and I came here to help Holon to win titles. It’s a chance to show it’s not an accident that e are in the Final and that we are one of the biggest teams in Israel.” Workman also spoke about the importance of playing for any title, “This is why you play basketball counting 3,2,1 and shooting as nobody is thinking of a practice game. It’s a big game, a lot of fun and a great opportunity to make something cool happen. No matter what division, big games all feel the same.”
Overtime
In other action, Hapoel Eilat sunk Hapoel Beer Sheva 85-72 in the Red Sea city as the hosts used a big second half to take the win after holding a 1-point 38-37 lead at halftime. Casey Prather led the way with 25 points, while Josh Nebo (19p/17r) and Ben Carter (13p/10r) each dropped double-doubles and Joe Ragland checked in with 14 points and 7 assists in the win. Amir Bell led Beer Sheva with 19 points, Eric Griffin added 18 points and 14 rebounds as Spencer Weisz also scored 18 points in Beer Sheva’s 3rd league loss in a row.
Bnei Herzliya smashed Maccabi Haifa 104-77 to record their first win of the season. Frank Gaines led the way for Sharon Drucker’s squad with 27 points and Max Heidegger added 24 points in the win but it was newcomer Abdul Gaddy’s 16 assists that made the difference. Roman Sorkin paced the Greens with 25 points in the defeat.
Nes Ziona surprised Hapoel Gilboa Galil 88-74 with a 50-39 second half to take the win. Jerome Meyinsse had his best game in Israel with 21 points and 8 rebounds to lead the way as Patrick Miller scored 23 points and Brian Angola chipped in with 18 points in the victory. Joe Thomasson led Gilboa Galil with 20 points while Jehyve Floyd scored 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the win.
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