Matthew Sims
The Altona Gators’ Big V women’s division 2 team will have to fight back to win the next two games against the Mornington Breakers, after suffering a 24-point loss in the first game of the grand final series on Sunday.
Gators coach Cameron Wilkosz said despite the Sunday being the team’s fourth loss against the Mornington Breakers this season, it was an extra blow having it as their biggest margin this year, a 70-46 loss
“They’ve got some really talented players,” he said.
Wilkosz said the two teams were pretty evenly matched at the end of the first period at 11 points a piece and Altona were only seven points down at half time at 21 points to Mornington’s 28 points.
“They had a ripping third quarter,” he said.
“We just couldn’t make a basket.”
At the end of the third period, Mornington were up by 19 points with 48 points, while Altona had 29 points on the board.
Altona’s top players during the match included Sharna Appleby, who scored the most points with 18 points, consisting of eight field goals, seven two-pointers and one three-pointer scored.
Wilkosz said another key player was Jessica Rarity, who scored 13 points, as well as securing 17 rebounds.
He said ahead of their game against the Mornington next Saturday, September 3, especially on their home court, they would be looking at increasing their offensive intensity and speed. The Gators win on Saturday night, they will force a game three to be played the following day.
“We just got to make sure we finish better around the rim,” Wilkosz said.
He said the team would be giving it their all to keep their hopes at taking out the grand final series alive.
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Wilkosz said.
