Maccabi Tel Aviv captured the franchise’s 47th Israel State Cup as it defeated Bnei Herzliya 109-90 in the final over the weekend.

Roman Sorkin paced the offense in the first half for Oded Katash’s squad, while Jaylen Hoard did the same in the second half as Maccabi ran away with the victory and hoisted the cup to the delight of the yellow-and-blue fans at Yad Eliyahu.

In the presence of President Isaac Herzog, Hoard and Sorkin scored for the yellow-and-blue while Max Heidegger and Frederic Bourdillon went from deep for Herzliya to get the game off and running. But Sorkin kept piling in points from downtown to give Maccabi a 59-39 advantage at halftime.

Chinanu Onuaku tried to keep Yehu Orland’s team in the game, but Hoard and Oshae Brissett poured in the points, and Tamir Blatt started to hit his shots from beyond the arc to wrap up the title.

Sorkin scored 25 points, Hoard added 20 points, and Blatt put in 14 points to go along with eight assists in the win. Onuaku scored 16 points, and Noah Carter chipped in with 15 points for Herzliya in the loss.

Katash spoke emotionally after the game about winning the cup.

“We’re very happy, and it was really exciting. We are proud that we made it, and it was not an easy journey. Most of the game plan worked out well, especially as we focused on defense the past few days, as I knew our offense would be fine. Herzliya has some very dangerous scorers and players who can post up, which we knew would be challenging, especially Onuaku, who can hurt you with his passing game. The players understood what we were playing for, and I’m very happy about that.”

Bnei Herzliya coach Yehu Orland reflected on the defeat.

“I’m disappointed as we lost in a final, and we should feel that way. The game got out of hand quickly, and Maccabi is used to playing in this arena. There were a lot of foul calls, and when we tried to get into the game, they ended up going to the line. We are coming out of here with mixed feelings as we are proud of what we were able to do and what we’ve been doing this season, but it’s tough against a team like Maccabi.”

Hoard shared his thoughts on the win.

“It wasn’t simple to win the cup, especially the matchup against Hapoel Jerusalem [in the semifinal], but it’s a title I really wanted to win. We’re having a challenging season, and after many injuries, it’s very gratifying. We’re a very united team on and off the court, and I hope we’ll also win the championship.”

Shalev Lugashi, Herzliya’s captain, spoke about the loss.

“We came in with the proper energy, and it’s tough to find the right words to express myself now. It’s tough at this moment to lose the State Cup; it’s a much bigger defeat than others. We made a lot of mistakes and we need to take a good look at what we did wrong and how we can correct that.”

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