Tara Murray
The Altona Gators held their nerve late to come away with their first senior Big V men’s title.
Just four points total separated the Gators and the Whittlesea Pacers in their last two meetings in division 2 and Saturday’s grand final didn’t disappoint.
The Pacers started the better of the two sides and led by double figures on multiple occasions in the first half.
The second half a different Gators came out onto the court. The first five minutes they kept the Pacers to just one field goal and were able to go on a run themselves to take the lead.
Not for the first time there was another twist.
After the margin got out to double figures in the favour of the Gators, the Pacers went on a run to bring the margin back to one point with less than a minute to go.
In the end, the Pacers would need a three pointer on the final possession to send the game into overtime.
They failed to get a shot off, with the Gators holding on to win 97-94.
Gators coach Josh Turton was still in disbelief half hour after the game.
“I think I blanked out the last two minutes of the game,” he said. “We didn’t play very well today [Saturday] I thought.
“We found a way to get it done and they are a hell of a basketball team, they pushed us right to the end like we knew they would.
“We never felt like it was going to be out of reach and it worked out the way I thought it would.”
Playing in front of a massive loud crowd, Turton said at times the noise meant that the players couldn’t hear what he was saying for much of the game.
Turton said the game went to script early on with the Pacers coming out fast. The Gators had a few early turnovers, appearing to be a bit nervous.
“The last four times we’ve played them, they’ve jumped us in the first quarter,” he said. “We tried to be better than they are, they were really good in that first half and I think we just found a way.
“The start of the third quarter was great, but that is basketball, it’s a game of runs.
“We’ve been in the situation where we’ve been well down and we’ve spoken about just finding a way.”
Turton said at half time they didn’t really focus on what they were doing right or wrong and that they had been in this situation before.
He said it was about going back to why they all play basketball.
“The biggest message was to start having fun,” he said. “I don’t think we were having fun in the first half and it’s why the hell you play basketball.
“The other thing was everyone was probably writing us off at half time. “We knew there were a few people out there that knew that we could come back and win the game.
“We had to play for each other.”
Turton said the final quarter had nothing with them on the court, but back to the work they had been doing since November.
“Credit to the guys, they’re a fantastic group.
Adam Anderson was the clear best player on the court, scoring 41 points, having nine rebounds and four assists.
He had from 50 per cent from beyond the arc, with half his points coming in the important third quarter.
“He is just a gun,” Turton said. “I’m thankful that he gave us a chance and came down and be part of our group.
“He is a special guy, a great person which is why we wanted him.”
For Nick Formosa, Thomas Georgiadis and Samson Rocker, it’s their second Big V championship with the Gators.
All three were part of the Gators youth league men’s championship in 2016, which also came against the Pacers.
While the season has just come to an end, Turton was already thinking of next year.
“I can’t wait to go up to d1 and do some damage, I’m looking forward to that challenge already,” he said.
“I think we’ve built something and I’m excited to keep building now.”
