Tara Murray
A poor start proved costly for Altona Gators as their Big V women’s division 1 season came to an end.
Having fought their way to the preliminary final, the Gators were in for a test against physical Warrandyte Venom side on Saturday night.
The Venom had all the momentum early and led by 20 points at half time.
The Gators worked back into the game in the second half and had their chances to hit the front but the Venom were able to steady to come away with an 82.-65 win.
Gators coach Randy Shanklin said it wasn’t their night.
“It was not a good outcome for us,” he said. “We had a bad start and we never really recovered.
“We had a good third quarter and got within two points after being down by 20 points at half time.
“We made some mistakes and they were able to get it back to nine at three quarter time before running away with it.”
Shanklin said playing two physical games in a row had taken a toll on the group as they couldn’t get going in the first half.
He said had they been able to take the lead in the third quarter, he thinks they would have won the game.
“We missed an open lay up to level the scores and an open three to go in front,” he said. “But they were good and shot above average.
“They were the better team.”
Jordan Wilson top scored for the Gators with 17 points, while Tyla Paraha the only other player in double figures.
Despite being knocked out one game short of a grand final, Shanklin said it was still a successful season for the group.
He said the division 1 women’s team and the youth league championship team, which also made finals, had put in a lot of hard work to get to this point of the season.
“We had a core group of six girls play in senior women’s,” he said. “We then rotated through our youth girls to get them qualified for finals.
“Each week was a different line up. We had some girls playing four games a weekend. To have the season they both had was unbelievable.”
Shanklin said they would possibly look to bring in some more players, but said they have to be the right fit.
He said they tended to want to focus on giving locals an opportunity first to keep that clear pathway throughout the club.
“We’re happy with what we did with the amount of girls we had,” he said. “I’m not disappointed with the season, only disappointed for the girls that deserved better.”
