ALTONA Lady Gators’ lead at the top of the Victorian Basketball League Big V women’s division 1 has been whittled down to mere percentage after a disappointing 63-51 loss to Latrobe City on the road at the Drouin Stadium on Sunday.
The Gators trailed by two points after three quarters, but were blown out of the water in an insipid final term, which saw them land just three of 13 from the field and miss on all four trips to the free throw line.
There was an over-reliance from the Gators on double-double bigs Brigette Ardossi and Louise Johnston. Ardossi finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Johnston had 11 and 11. The Gators return home on Sunday afternoon to entertain the Warrnambool Mermaids in what shapes as one of the games of the season between the first and second ranked sides. The winner will almost certainly hold the No.1 ranking when the finals begin in three weeks time.
It is also a huge day for the Altona Basketball Association with three Pink Shield games taking place, starting with the young league men against Warrandyte at 11am, the Lady Gators contesting Warrnambool at 1pm and the Gators facing Warrnambool in the men’s division 1 at 3pm.
The Lady Gators will take to the court in specially-made pink playing singlets to raise awareness that one in nine women will suffer from breast cancer in their lifetime.
The club will be asking supporters to dig deep on the day to raise much-needed funds on behalf of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. which will go towards finding a cure.
Altona Gators pulled off a thrilling 62-60 win over Latrobe City in the men’s division 1 on Sunday. James Guljas (15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots), Michael McCallum (17 points and five rebounds) and Nathan Wapshott (10 points and four rebounds) sparked the Gators down the stretch.
Women: Latrobe City 63 d Altona 51
Men: Latrobe City 60 lt Altona 62
