Israel's U16 Girls Basketball Team Relegated to Division B After Loss to Lithuania

Israel's under-16 girls basketball team suffered a disappointing 80-69 defeat to Lithuania on Wednesday in the European Championship classification games, resulting in their relegation to Division B. The loss means Israel will now compete in the ranking matches for places 13 to 16, facing Romania on Friday. Although typically only the bottom three teams are relegated, Bulgaria will remain in Division A next year as the host nation, regardless of their outcome against Italy in the relegation playoff.

This relegation marks the only instance among Israel's youth national teams where the squad will not compete in Division A next year, as both the women's under-20 team finished as runners-up in the European Championship and the girls' under-18 team won the Division B title to return to Division A.

The game was closely contested throughout, with Israel holding a slight lead at the end of the first quarter (17-13) and maintaining a 38-34 advantage at halftime. Lithuania tightened their defense in the third quarter to take a 53-50 lead. In the final quarter, Lithuania extended their lead to 67-60 with six minutes remaining, and Israel struggled offensively, allowing the gap to widen to 71-62 with two minutes left. Despite efforts to close the gap, Israel could not overcome the deficit.

Key Israeli players included Michal Abudraham, who scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and both Rona Tzalal and Tehila Dugan, who contributed 12 points each. Other contributors were Ela Maoz Barda with 10 points and Adi Levi with 6 points. The team will now focus on their upcoming match against Romania to determine their final ranking in the tournament.