Let’s pack it out: Shepparton Gators players Dylan Wilkie, Garrett Jefferson, Sam Beks, Matthew Bartlett and Jordan Michel, pictured with junior basketballers are imploring for as many fans to get down to the Swamp this weekend to cheer the Gators home in their grand final series against Bellarine.
Photo by
Aydin Payne
For coach Josh Waight and his Shepparton Gators squad, it all comes down to this.
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After four months of intense competition, the 2022 Big V division one grand final series will come to Shepparton for its dramatic conclusion, with the Gators searching for two victories against Bellarine Storm to be crowned champions.
The Gators come into this weekend’s action on the back of a nail-biting four-point series opening loss to the Storm at Bellarine Sports Centre last Saturday night, meaning one loss would bring their championship dreams to a halt.
With everything to play for, Waight said his team was excited to get back on court this Saturday night and embrace the challenge of being 1-0 down in the series.
“We’re really looking forward to getting back into it, we are all really disappointed with the end of the game last week, so there is a real determination to redeem ourselves in front of our home crowd,” Waight said.
“Over the week we have definitely looked at game one and identified a few areas where we can improve, so we are looking to forward to being able to implement those changes this weekend.”
After leading by 10 points at half-time last week, Shepparton was overawed in the second half, with its offence failing to fire at critical moments down the stretch.
It also didn’t have the usual distribution of scorers, with US import Garrett Jefferson the only Gator to reach double figures in the loss.
Waight reflected on his team’s shortcomings in game one and how it would go about wrestling back the momentum.
Ready to go: Shepparton Gators players Jordan Michel, Dylan Wilkie, Garrett Jefferson, Sam Beks and Matthew Bartlett are itching to get back on court to finish their grand final series against Bellarine.
Photo by
Aydin Payne
“We felt like we did a really good job on defence, but we need to put a little bit more work into Rohan Jarvie, who had a really good game for them last time out,” he said.
“I feel we have a really solid plan in place to nullify his influence, but we also have to make a few changes on the offensive side as well to get some easier baskets.
“One of the strengths in our group is our ability to move the ball, get everybody involved and not force all our scoring through one person — so the aim is to see an even contribution on the scorers’ list this weekend.”
Shepparton will get the major advantage of having a home crowd behind it for the final two games of the series, with hundreds expected to flock to Shepparton Sports Stadium to catch the grand final action.
Waight said the home support had been a major part of the team’s success this season and was urging as many people as possible to come down this weekend.
“We are really excited (to be back home), the crowd has been our sixth man all year and to get this opportunity to finish a grand final series in front them is amazing,” he said.
“So if you are doing nothing this weekend and want to watch some quality hoops, get down to the Shepparton Sports Stadium to hopefully watch us get a couple of wins.”
Game two of the Big V division one grand final series will tip off at 7pm at Shepparton Sports Stadium.
And if the Gators win, the deciding game three will begin at 2pm on Sunday at Shepparton Sports Stadium.
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