Hapoel Galil Elyon (), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli basketball, and internationally in the Balkan League. The team represents the northern region of the country – the Upper Galilee, and the Golan Heights.
In June 2008, the club rights in the Israeli Basketball Premier League transferred to Hapoel Gilboa (which had previously been merged with Hapoel Afula, which regained their independence) to form a new club, Hapoel Gilboa Galil, which represents the Gilboa and Lower Galilee regions. The team was re-established in 2009.
History
American-Israeli Brad Leaf played for 12 years for Hapoel Galil Elyon. He won the Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP award in 1989–90. In both 1989-90 and 1991-92 he was voted a member of the Israeli Basketball Premier League Quintet, an award given to the five best players of each season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
In 1992–93 the club, then coached by Pini Gershon, became the first club based outside Tel Aviv to win the Israeli Championship, ending Maccabi Tel Aviv's 23-year winning streak. They also won the State Cup twice, in 1988 and 1992.
Between 1990 and 2008, several of the Israel's most successful basketball players came through the club, including Nadav Henefeld, Oded Kattash, Doron Sheffer, Gur Shelef, Lior Eliyahu, and Sharon Sasson, earning the team the nickname "the Israeli basketball college".
In 2021, the club was promoted from the Israeli National League to the Israeli Basketball Premier League for the first time since the merger.
Honors Total titles: 4 Domestic competitions Israeli Championship Winners: 1993 Runners-up: 1990, 1995 State Cup Winners: 1988, 1992 Runners-up: 1987, 1990, 1998 Lower division competitions Liga Artzit / Israeli National League Winners: 1979 , 2021
European competitions FIBA Saporta Cup Semifinalist (1): 1992–93
Regional competitions Balkan League Winners: 2022
Players Current roster
Depth chart
Season by season Season Tier League Postseason Cup Competitions European Competitions 2012–13 2 Liga Leumit 2013–14 Second round 2014–15 First round 2015–16 2016–17 First round 2017–18 6 Quarter-finals First round 2018–19 3 Runner-up 2019–20 7 7th place Round of 16 2020–21 1 Champion First round 2021–22 1 Premier League 5 Quarter-finals Quarter-finals Balkan League Champion 2022–23 5 Quarter-finals — Europe Cup Regular season 2023–24 11 — First round Europe Cup Withdrew 2024–25 10 Play-in —
Notable players
Shamuel Nachmias
Notable coaches
David Blatt Pini Gershon Oded Kattash Erez Edelstein Muli Katzurin
References
External links Team website hebrew