Giant-slaying Israel end Finland's run, headline Semi-Finalists

AUSTRIA (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B) – Four teams remain in the promotion race at the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B after Belarus, Israel, Lithuania and Turkey qualified for the Semi-Finals on Friday's action in Oberwart.

Having snapped Lithuania's unbeaten run in Group B to qualify for the Play-Offs on the last day of the Group Phase, the Roee Lazare-coached Israeli side pulled off a similar feat with a 79-73 upset over Finland, who had won five games in a row leading up to the Quarter-Final clash.

Lior Garzon stole the spotlight with 29 points and 5 rebounds, Gaya Sless chipped in with a healthy 17-point, 6-board contribution, while Offir Kesten Raz filled up the boxscore with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

Finland hadn't lost a single game before being eliminated in the Quarter-Finals

Meanwhile, Lotta Vehka-aho had a team-high 17 points for Finland, as 16-year-old sensation Awak Kuier racked up 12 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.

Following their momentous back-to-back wins, Israel will be looking to snap another unbeaten run in the Semi-Finals after their opponent-to-be Belarus downed the Netherlands 77-64 for their sixth consecutive victory in Austria.

Kseniya Malashka made sure the winning streak wasn't interrupted prematurely in the Quarter-Finals by netting a tournament-high 34 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists and coming away with 3 steals, while Nastassia Siarchenia also entered double figures with 10 points.

Kseniya Malashka  matched the tournament-high with 34 points

Elsewhere, Lithuania used a solid second half to pull away to a 77-66 win over Portugal. Kristina Masionyte was the top scorer for the winners with 14 points, while Brigita Sinickaite and Enrika Matiukaite had 12 points apiece.

Turkey booked the last Semi-Final spot after registering a 57-45 victory against Ukraine, having outscored their opponents 32-18 in the painted area. Sevval Gul paced the Turkish side with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Yana Rabchuk had team-highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Ukrainians.

In the Classification Games 9-16, Romania swept aside Switzerland with a 70-46 scoreline, Luxembourg inscribed an 80-68 win over Denmark, Greece defeated Cyprus 79-35 and Great Britain locked up a 73-62 victory over Slovakia.

Lower down in the standings, Iceland began the Classification Games 17-24 with a 89-50 rout of Albania, tournament hosts Austria got on the board by scoring a 60-35 win over Norway, Bulgaria bested Georgia 80-69, as Montenegro blew out Kosovo 119-48 in the last game of the day.

Semi-Final pairings:

Israel v Belarus Lithuania v Turkey [/unordered]

FIBA