Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv will meet Maccabi Haifa Heat,in the finlas of the Israeli Super league in this Thursday.

Maccabi Tel Aviv won Galil Gilboa 72-70.

And Maccabi Haifa won Hapoel Jerusalem in overtime 98-93.

Here are the are the summaries of the games(from Basket.co.il):

Maccabi Haifa-Hapoel Jerusalem:

For the second year in a row the BSL finals will feature a newcomer after Maccabi Haifa Heat wrote a great achivement by qualifying to the finals of the league after a thrilling 98-93 overtime win over Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem. Haifa dominated the game from the start and entered the last quarter with a comfortable 13 point lead after a huge offensive display from the arc in the first half. Hapoel's answer was a stunning 0-23 run in six minutes, which kept growing till an eight point lead, with four minutes to play. Haifa proved their big heart and forced an 84-84 tie before missing a golden chance to win the game in regulation. In the overtime, despite a big foul trouble, Haifa was the main power and didn't drop the lead once on the way to the big finals.

Rookie Davon Jefferson had a slow start but from the second quarter and on he was on fire on his way to 26 points, ten rebounds and just a single missed shot from the line in 12 attempts. Doron Perkins was the hot hand in Haifa's run and came one assist short of a triple double with 22 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and five steals, Gur Porat played a big x-factor role with 15 points, including some big plays at the end of the fourth quarter, Malik Dixon scored only 12 but was the main force in overtime while Amit Ben David and Moshe Mizrakhi scored 11 each. Travis Watson led Hapoel with 24 points and ten rebounds, Timmy Bowers added 20 points with nine boards and five assists, Sharon Shason added 13 including key points in the big run, while Omar Sneed and Torin Francis had 11 each.

A mass of fans from Jerusalem and Haifa warmed up their throats long before the tip off, and set a great atmopshere for the first Semifinals. Haifa came ready to, once again, eliminate Hapoel one game before the finals and went for the prey right from the start.

Haifa pushed the ball inside to Sales who scored close to the rim, but made their first big difference thanks to points from distance. Moshe Mizrakhi nailed a corner three-ball and soon added another to make it a 9-4 game. Watson scored for Hapoel but made a quick second foul to take a seat, and watch his team in trouble against Haifa's tough defense with a shot clock violation. Doron Perkins hit from distance as well and force a time out by Hapoel down 12-4, but that didn't help much. Davon Jefferson with a block allowed Mizrakhi to hit yet once again from the same spot and now the difference was already 11. Sharon Shason hit nothing but air to give another example to Hapoel's misery but Moran Rot came off the bench to stop Haifa's run with a right side slash, 15-6 after five minutes. Jefferson still didn't find his spot with his third miss from the field, while Hapoel relayed on Torin Francis who was a presence in the paint and with four points cut the margin to five, 15-10. Perkins felt it's time to take over and connected a big shot under pressure with a long distance three pointer to make it a double-digit game again, 20-10, but Hapoel was ready to retort. Seven unanswered points were made thanks to a smashing dunk by Francis and a fantastic catch-and-shoot three pointer by Sneed, but the final play of the period was in favor of Haifa when Amit Ben David grabbed an offensive board and finished with a three point play, 23-17.

Francis collected 6 points for Hapoel while Haifa had the upper edge behind 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists by Doron Perkins and Moshe Mizrakhi.

Hapoel faced trouble against Haifa's defense and scored only three points in the first 3:25 minutes of the quarter. While the Reds hit just one shot out of six long distance attempts, Haifa already registered six hits behind the arc, the last of was Jefferson's first field goal, which he followed with a pair from the line, 31-20. Perkins with a big steal had a chance to keep up the good momentum but a reckless turnover allowed Yuval Naimi to score a quick bucket followed by another great finish and make it just a seven point game. Hapoel pushed the ball inside and Watson with a basket and the bonus kept his team not too far, only to see Gur Porat connected back-to-back long arrows from the same spot which didn't allow Hapoel to move any closer, and less than four minutes to play in the first half, the gap was still ten, 37-27. If all that wasn't enough now it was Ben David's turn to hit twice in a row from arc distance, but team from capital city found the way to stay in the game. An unsportsmanlike foul on Naimi allowed Haifa to climb to 46-32 after nearly 18 minutes, and from there Hapoel found no way back. Timmy Bowers scored his first points from the line, but Porat answered with another long distance hit, and Perkins beat the buzzer with an off-balance shot to set the gap on 14 at the break, 53-39.

Perkins led the scoring sheet with 12 followed by Jefferson with 10 and three players with nine - Mizrakhi, Porat and Ben David. Hapoel saw 11 fromFrancis and seven by Watson. Haifa hit no less than 11 three pointers in 15 attempts from long distance, while Hapoel was only two out of nine.

Back from the break Hapoel needed to react fast, but Haifa had no plans to make it easy for them. Malik Dixon had to leave to the bench due to an injury, but Haifa kept the pressure on. Perkins blocked Rot and soon after Jefferson denied Watson's attempt to score, to maintain Haifa's lead. After six minutes in the half Hapoel was still up 60-46, as both teams struggled to score. Bowers finished a fast break with a dunk, but Kozikro showed his big heart and fought for every ball to collect one offensive rebound after the other. Dixon returned but remained the only Haifa player not to attempt without making a three pointer with his third miss. The aggressive defense resulted some foul trouble as both Kozikaro and Sales collected four, but Perkins with a steal on the perimeter sent Dixon for a fast break lay up, 68-53. Watson scored drew Jefferson's third foul and scored two from the line, to make it a 13 point game entering the last quarter.

Francis and Watson had 13 each for Hapoel while Haifa, although not making a three pointer in this quarter, saw 16 from Jefferson, 13 by Porat and Perkins still with 12.

It was now or never for Hapoel and this time they reacted. Watson used Sales' foul trouble in the low-post and Bowers hit a big transition three pointer to cut the margin to no more than eight, 68-60. Hapoel wasn't going to miss this chance. Watson scored in the paint and Shason hit a three ball from the top of the key to make it just a three point game after a 0-12 run and over seven minutes to play. Perkins missed a tough lay up to see Watson go once again to the line, where he scored just once. Haifa called a time out but it made no change. Shason hit another three ball to give Hapoel their first lead of the night. Mizrakhi wrote his 4th foul and Perkins his 3rd as Hapoel reached their 20th point in a row, 68-73. Haifa seemed lost and their foul trouble made it impossible to display their aggressive defense. Shason used that for his third hit from distance in a row before Porat finally broke the drought and scored Haifa's first points in the fourth quarter after more than six minutes, to cut Hapoel's run on 0-23. Kozikaro fouled out which left Haifa with much less meat in the paint and so the weight moved to the back court. Ben David with a big steal cut the margin to four, 76-80, less than 2:30 to play, and Porat with a fast break lay up pushed Hapoel to take a time out, now up by just two points and two minutes on the game clock. Both sides missed twice in a row before Jefferson with a big offensive play drew Shason's 5th foul and went to shoot two with 54.7 seconds on the clock. He hit both and forced an 80-80 tie that put the pressure on Hapoel's side. The ball went inside to Watson once again and Jefferson stopped him with his 4th foul. The big guy scored them both and left Haifa 39.9 seconds to answer. Bowers sent Perkins to the line, and his first attempt jumped on the rim twice before slipping in. The second was smoother and Hapoel called their last time out with 33.8 ticks to plan a winning play. It was set to Bowers who made a huge shot to put Hapoel on top with 26.7 to play, but Dixon's shot wasn't any less impressive leaving Hapoel with 10.3 seconds to win the game, although Perkins had other thoughts. He stole the ball at mid court and had an open way to the rim, but Sneed came out of nowhere, changed his shot and the ball went out to call it an overtime.


Watson collected 22 with eight rebounds by that time followed by 16 written on Bowres and 13 by Shason. Haifa had 18 each from Jefferson and Perkins before 15 by Porat.

Jefferson started the overtime with another big offensive board followed by a huge three point play. Hapoel lost their rhythm and Haifa was quicker on the loose balls. Dixon missed a big momentum shot from distance and Watson from the other side set the score on 89-86. Dixon stayed in charge and a big left-to-right slash finished with another bucket. Francis missed twice from the line, just to see Dixon dominate with another big floater, 93-88. Rot stole the ball but took a quick three attempt that went out. Jefferson scored two from the line to set the difference on seven, 95-88 and with 41.6 seconds Bowers went to the line after drawing Porat's 5th foul. He made only the second, 95-89, and Hapoel needed another miracle to survive. Dixon shocked with two missed shots from the line, and Hapoel were still alive. They missed twice but kept the ball to allow Bowers an open shot and it was once again a three point game, 95-92. Now it was Jefferson's turn to go to the line, and after missing the first he hit the second to make it a two possession game. Hapoel went for their true last chance but Naimi missed the jumper, and Haifa celebrated a big historical win.

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv-Galil Gilboa:

In front thousands of their fans Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv earned a chance to win back the BSL title after a 72-70 victory over Altshular Shaham Gilboa/Galil on Tuesday night at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. An unexpected thriller was decided by a Lior Eliayhu move in the post before both sides missed chances to change the score. The runner-up from last season will play for the title on Thursday night against the newcomer Maccabi Haifa Heat, who earlier eliminated Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem in overtime.

Maccabi held a double-digit lead already in the first quarter, maintained it in the second and was up by 14 in the third quarter as well, but some big minutes by Galil changed the momentum of the game. The team of Oded Kattash even managed to take the lead in their hands, but the experience of Maccabi made the difference.

Eliyahu finished as the top scorer with 20 points, D'or Fischer added 14 with ten rebounds, Omri Casspi scored 11 with nine rebounds while Carlos Arroyo and Dee Brown had nine points each. Elishay Kadir had a big night for Galil with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists followed by 13 points by Dion Dowell, 12 of Brian Roberts and ten of Brian Randle.

Maccabi rested Marcus Brown who carries an injury and used Tal Burstein in the starting line-up, and it turned out for the best. Burstein played a key role in Maccabi's good start. as his team took a a quick 7-0 lead sharing points between three players. When Fischer dunked an alley-hoop pass by Arroyo it seemed like Galil was in trouble, but their answer was quick. It took Galil over four minutes to score their first points, when Kadir scored in the low post, but once on the move it was an equal game. Dee Brown came in for Arroyo but Maccabi's man was Casspi who showed his presence around the rim and intensity on defense to lead Maccabi to a 14-7 lead after eight minutes. Burstein made it a ten point lead, before Dowell finished the opening ten minutes with a big drive, 17-9.

Casspi wrote six points and five rebounds in the first quarter while all of Galil's points divided between Kadir with five and Dowell with four.

Maccabi's game was flowing better as Fischer hit a mid-range jumper and Dee Brown connected from long range to write a 24-11 lead after 14 minutes. Galil missed open shots, but Maccabi didn't perform their best game as well. After going down by 14, 27-13 Galil used big minutes by Randle, who combined steals and big defense on one side with points on the other to make it 27-19 after 17 minutes. Dee Brown connected again from distance and ran the break to make sure Maccabi stay far enough, before Galil called for another time out. Randle continued to be Galil's main force, but his second foul, after an offensive rebound by Eliyahu, gave Galil some headache. Mekel with his first points, right before the break, set the margin on ten again, and all were ready for Maccabi to enter the break with a double-digit lead, but Roberts beat the buzzer with a huge corner three sent the teams to the locker-rooms separated by only seven, 37-30.

Brown and Eliyahu scored nine for Maccabi while Fischer and Casspi had seven points each and a total of 13 rebounds. Kadir remained the top scorer of Galil with seven and Randle had six.

Straight from the break Mekel connected from distance to make it a six point game, but Maccabi was more athletic and physical. Casspi with a big move on the right wing was followed by two above the rim plays of Eliyahu and Fischer as Maccabi climbed to 47-35 after 24 minutes. Two off-dribble scores by Roberts cut the margin to 53-44 but Eliyahu was there again to collect points and stop Galil's run. Yaniv Green scored a difficult post up play, but Kadir with a reverse lay up kept Galil in the game. Randle's dunk followed by a huge jumper by Roberts made it just a six point game, right before the third buzzer. Roberts missed an open three that could have created chaos, but the teams still entered the last ten minutes separated only by six, 58-52.


Eliyahu was the top scorer with 14 while Casspi and Fisched reached 11 each. Kadir scored 13, Roberts 12 and Randle ten for the Red side.

Dowell opened the the last quarter with two huge hits behind the arc from the right wing and narrow the gap to only four with 7:30 to play in the game, 62-58. Kadir made a huge follow dunk to cut the margin by half, and Swann hit a big three to shock Maccabi with a 62-63 Galil lead. Arroyo carried Maccabi on his back with five points in a row, but Galil were on fire. A turnover on the fast break caused Arroyo to commit his fourth foul and go to the bench with a bit over four minutes to play and watch Galil take a 67-68 lead with Kadir's points from the line. With the pressure on the big shoulders of Maccabi it was time for the heroes on both ends to step up. Fishcer after a big offensive board scored from close range and added the bonus from the line and after both teams missed, Mekel finished a big drive to write a 70-70 tie with a little less than two minutes to play. Eliyahu with a big play in the post gave Maccabi the lead under a minute to go, and Roberts missed with a hand in his face at the other side. With 30 seconds to go and the ball in Arroyo's hands Galil chose to play defense and it worked well after Burstein missed a tough shot, but in the remaining six seconds Galil couldn't create a decent shot and missed with the buzzer from nearly half court.


The finlas wil be as I said in this thursday(21/05/09),the game for the 3rd place of Hapoel Jerusalem v.s Galil Gilboa will strat in 18:00(local time),and the game for the championship will start in 20:50(local time).