Hapoel Jerusalem runs over Maccabi Tel Aviv for 2nd straight State Cup title

It was clear from the get-go of Thursday night’s final that Hapoel Jerusalem just wanted to win the Israel State Cup more than Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Despite not hitting shots early on and heading into halftime down by almost double-digits, the Reds had more energy, more desire, more drive, and perhaps even a bit more pride. Ultimately, they came out of the break and blew away the yellow-and-blue with aggressiveness and intensity to win their eighth Cup title with a resounding 82-75 conquest at Yad Eliyahu.

It was also the second straight State Cup triumph for Jerusalem after also knocking off Maccabi Tel Aviv last season at the Pais Arena in the capital.

This was also the fourth time that Hapoel won back-to-back titles after having taken the Cup home in 1996 and 1997, 2007 and 2008, 2019 and 2020, and now in both 2023 and 2024.

But it wasn’t just about basketball for Hapoel Jerusalem on this day. It was even more about those who have been put through torture due to the war with Hamas. It was for club superfan Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who is being held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists. It was for Ofir Engel, who had been captured and then released.

And it was for the many, many fans of the club who have fallen in battle – from Ariel Reich, Shachar Friedman, Ben Zussman and Aner Shapira to sadly just name a few.

Maccabi came into the matchup after a grueling five-game Euroleague quarterfinal series in which it came up short to Panathinaikos, while Jerusalem had just been starting to find its stride under Yonatan Alon, the team’s third coach this season after the departures of Aleksandar Dzikic and Illias Kantzouris.

The game plan for Jerusalem was simple out of the gate – crash the boards on the offensive glass to give it a chance for more attempts at the bucket. The strategy worked out in leaps and (re)bounds for Hapoel, which ended up with 19 offensive boards. Add to the fact that the Reds had 81 shot attempts compared to Maccabi’s 58 – a difference of 23 – and Alon had come up with the correct recipe to come away with the coveted trophy.

Sure, Oded Katash’s team went into halftime with a 46-37 lead, but Alon’s troops came out blazing in the third quarter with an 11-0 run to flip the lead, the momentum and, in essence, broke Maccabi very quickly.

From there, the snowball kept growing larger as Jerusalem – with superb performances by JaCorey Williams (21 points), captain Levi Randolph (17 points), and Yovel Zoosman, who was terrific on both ends of the floor – was too much for the opposition.

Add to that a phenomenal performance by Nimrod Levi (10 points and nine rebounds) and Khadeen Carrington (16 points) and Alon had just the right mix to cause all kinds of issues for the Maccabi offense, which saw only two players in double digits and Lorenzo Brown coughing up the ball 11 times in what was a dismal showing that he would most certainly like to forget quickly.

However, the maestro and conductor of the Jerusalem offense and defense was Speedy Smith, who was named as the game’s MVP for the second straight year. The point guard, who scored 12 points and dished out 15 assists, set the pace for the team, especially in the second half that saw Jerusalem outscore Maccabi 45-26, holding Katash’s crew to just 10 third quarter points.

And that was that. Game. Set. Match.

“It was a story of two totally different halves. In the first, we had to chase after Maccabi but in the second half we won the game by playing defense and by our character,” exclaimed Alon.

Smith tried to deflect and really credited everyone on the team from top to bottom, showing how just unselfish he is.

“It was our defense that helped us win. Coach Alon gave us our identity as to what we had to do in the third quarter and it was special as to what we did as a team. Nimrod Levi had one of his best games, JaCorey Williams did what he did on both sides of the court, Levi Randolph did what a captain does with big baskets to close out the game and Yovel Zoosman was terrific on defense. Credit also to all the guys on the bench who gave us a ton of energy throughout the game.”

Matan Adelson, the club’s new owner, is now two-for-two in domestic titles having captured the pre-season Winner Cup way back in the fall and now the State Cup.

“It feels good. Celebrating and enjoying the hard work and dedication and overcoming the obstacles we were able to overcome this season is very big. At the end of the day… there are always a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Some days are great and some are horrible. But so far it’s been an unbelievable experience.”