Maccabi Tel Aviv wins the title with late surge and a championship double

Maccabi Tel Aviv captured its 58th Israeli championship on Tuesday night with a 83-79 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv, taking the best-of-five final series 3-1. The victory completed a domestic double for a season that swung between highs and lows, and followed a year in which the club nearly parted ways with coach Oded Katash in October and spent much of its EuroLeague campaign away from Israel.

Katash called the trophy “one of the biggest titles of my career,” while the club said, “The Maccabist spirit won.” The team noted that it played with only eight players, and that Zach Hankins was able to return after an abdominal injury because he knew the team had only seven other available players and wanted to avoid foul trouble. “Saying goodbye to a season like this with a double? Especially sweet,” the club said.

Roman Sorkin was the key player at the end, after struggling for most of the game and the previous game in the series. With 32 seconds left, he hit the decisive three-pointer that put Maccabi ahead for good. “The basket did not end the game,” he said. “Oded shouted at me to calm down. I had to repay the team after a game and a half of poor play.” He added that the difficult years in Israel, and the constant travel tied to EuroLeague play, made the achievement “more sweet.”

Katash said the team won “with heart, soul and sacrifice” rather than by playing its best basketball. He praised not only the players but also the entire support staff, including coaching assistants, medical and physiotherapy personnel, and the club’s management. He said the team reached the finish line exhausted, but credited a healthy locker-room atmosphere and organizational effort for helping it survive the playoffs and protect home-court advantage. Maccabi will receive a 325,000 shekel bonus for winning the title.