Div B: Group F day 4 – Germany and the Netherlands on course for semi-final berth

Israel versus England

A tense start to the match by both teams as they jostled for position with little happening offensively in the first four minutes and the score tied (5-5). Both teams continued to play man to man with England marking Bea Galinski closely. She eventually broke the dead lock with two baskets that put Israel in front and instigated a (14-0) run spread over two periods. Israel remained then in control for the remaining of the match (19-7). England now forced to chase the game switched to their 3-point fast break transition that resulted in two consecutive 3-points by Ella Clark. England were not able to maintain the momentum and Israel regained control again and by the interval increased their advantage to 10 points.

England were not able to take advantage of their opponents’ foul problems with poor shooting from the charity stride scoring only seventeen-from-thirty-three. With little or no success from the perimeter leaving them with no alternative but to use their physical advantage under the boards to put any points on the board. Meanwhile Israel with Avigiel Cohen, Shira Schecht and Bar Galinski continued to cause England all sorts of problems with variances of the same offensive to keep England at bay.

Leading by 18-points going into the final period Ronny Kahn, Israeli’s head coach rotated his bench as his side kept England out of the game (60-50). Ella Clark topped the scoring charts with 16 points. This victory keeps Israel in the hunt for a semi-final place while England now need to win their remaining matches and are dependant of reversals of the teams above them.

Karen Burton said that she was: “Really disappointed by the way we started the game, really pleased with the way we finished the game and for the first time in the tournament, we were beaten by a better team”.

Ronny Kahn was already thinking about the next match but had a few comments to make about his team: “Six players from this team will be available next year, they play good team basketball. As you saw we do not have many systems but it works. I am looking forward to our next game against Holland. I have to say the Dutch coach has done great work with her team. A win for us would give us an option for the semi-final but we have to wait on the other results.”

Shira Schecht and Shira Ben Barak, players from Israel, are very happy with the current situation and added: “We looked at the video of England and saw that they were tall and play physical, so today we had to play physical and we won. And so far we are enjoying the tournament.”

Boxscore

Romania versus Netherlands

A pulsating first period with first Holland in complete control (10-2) and then Romania’s come back with 11 straight points to make them go in front (11-13). Holland’s coolness from the free throw line with 8-of-10 in the first period was the difference between the two teams at the end of the first period. Holland consolidated their advantage in the second period with solid defence, good free-throw shooting which eventually broke Romania’s resistance as the gap in favour of Holland increased to 19-points.

True to the philosophy of Yvonne Lansink, the Dutch’s head coach, she turned her rotation after the break bringing players in and out to break up their opponents’ rhythm but also give all her players time on the court. The constant change did not stop Holland from keeping the Romanian duo Gabriela Mursaru and Roxana Patruk in check as they went on to win (79-56). For Romania this defeat eliminates them from a semi-final place. Miloo Deker was the pick of the Dutch today with 17-points.

The Dutch head coach, Yvonne Lansink said: “I have to thank my team for doing a great job and allowing me to be able to play my younger, less experienced players in a game. And those players also stepped up and gave a quality performance in their short time.”

Her players Milou Dekker and Rianne Hofstraat commented: “Our supporters are fantastic. We do not have the words to express our gratitude. As a team we have blended well. And we are having a great tournament and are learning all the time.”

Boxscore 

Germany versus Ireland

Germany controlled the pace of the game from the tip-off and with solid free-throw-shooting to score the first 11-points. The Irish switched their defensive system and finally got their offensive working to put some points on the board but still trailed by 10 points at the end of the first period.

The result of the second period is a little harsh on Ireland because Germany had to work hard for every single point. Ireland played an energy-sapping man to man keeping Germany off the offensive boards. As a result Germany were forced to be patient in their build-up which eventually paid off as they scored 14-points without reply to extend their lead to 22 points before allowing Ireland to reduce the deficit by 5-points.

Ireland switched to zone that caused Germany problems but Alexandra Maerz, German head coach, believes in patience and discipline. The outcome was a slow but steady rate of scoring while keeping the gallant Irish scoreless for most of the third period as the lead increased to 27-points. Surprising Germany lost their shape in the final period, scoring only 6-points, as Ireland kept on coming back (52:31).

Germany’s head coach, Alexandra Maerz, had the following to say: “We played well offensively for 20 minutes. And then had to maintain our focus which helped us through difficult patches in the game as our opponents never gave up. I’m pleased in general with the way we played.”

Boxscore 

Picture courtesy of Phil Gaskin