Basketball: Doron and U.S. beat Israel

RAANANA - Just two weeks ago, Shai Doron led Israel’s basketball squad to victory in the second level European Championship in Lithuania en route to the finals.

Tuesday evening, she added another line to her glowing resume by helping the American Maccabiah team beat the Israelis 78:53 to capture the gold medal.

Doron scored the first six points, and with an additional three from Gina Pollack, the Americans were leading the Israelis 18:6 in the first four minutes of the game.

Tal Natan's team suffered from low shooting percentages from the free-throw line, and the squad's two stars, Karin Agassi and Katia Abramson, barely managed to shoot over the towering American defense orchestrated by Jennifer Fleischer.

Doron scored 16 points by half-time, and with her team up 46:22 the second half was purely garbage time, as Israel managed to score only eight points in the third quarter.

Doron, who was named tournament MVP, led all scorers with 21 points; Fleischer poured in 20, and Lesley Carlson added 8 points for the victors.

For Israel, Liel Ohanun tried to minimize the defeat with 14 points, aided by Katia Abramson's nine points.

"This gold medal was the goal, and eventually we achieved it," Doron said after the game. "A victory is a victory, even if it's against Israel."

Doron said the victory marked the first time she had won a tournament while playing for the U.S. squad.

Some 1,500 people were on hand to witness the rout.