Maccabi Haifa: Israeli Champions
Maccabi Haifa lifted the Israeli Winner League trophy after overcoming powerhouse Maccabi Tel-Aviv in a shock result in the final. The 79-86 victory was the first league success for Maccabi Haifa, and it will be much sweeter considering the team was not expected to win against 48 times Winner League champions Tel-Aviv.
Perhaps going in as clear underdogs helped the Haifa players raise their game against a Tel-Aviv team that was looking for a third successive title. However, during the first ten minutes the contest was too close to call as Maccabi Haifa kept pace with their illustrious opponents, but nevertheless it was Tel-Aviv that was leading with a 25-24 lead at the first interval.
Despite a strong start to the second quarter, Haifa lost concentration as the Maccabi Tel-Aviv players cut out the mistakes to open up a 42-37 advantage at the midway buzzer. At that stage, the game was going with form and history and it looked as though the experienced winners with Tel-Aviv would go on to lift the title.
However Maccabi Haifa worked hard throughout the third quarter in an effort to cut the Tel-Aviv lead. The work paid off as by the end of the third the lead had been slashed to just one point at 58-57. The scene was set for a tight fourth quarter as both teams would head down the stretch with victory in sight, but it was Haifa that stole the initiative early in the final period thanks in part to the consistent scoring of Gal Mekel (190 cm, Wichita State’08) who would ultimately finish on 21 points for the night.
With just five minutes left on the clock, Haifa had opened up a four point lead and a three pointer from Paul Stoll (180 cm) stretched the gap to six points at 72-66. Despite the best efforts from the reigning champions the lead was too big and the game had become beyond the team. Haifa had won and were the new Winner League champions for the first time in their history.
Pat Calathes was the star of the show for Haifa
Pat Calathes (208 cm, St. Joseph’s’08) was an integral part in the victory; the American secured a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds to propel Maccabi Haifa to a win that will be written into the story of the club. For Tel-Aviv, Ricky Hickman (189 cm, NC-Greensbro’07) hit 28-points but perhaps the reason the team lost is highlighted by the fact that the next highest scorers were Shawn James and Lior Eliyahu with 10 each.