Wallan Panthers’ debut season the in Basketball Victoria Country Basketball League has come to an end in the first week of the finals.
The women’s side entered the north-east finals as the underdogs, against the only side which they had failed to beat during the season, Wodonga.
Already up against it, the Panthers had massive injury concerns with several of their starting five playing under duress.
Tracey Tusley, with a torn achilles, and Gemma Jackson with a fractured wrist, shouldn’t have even taken to the court, while Sarah Taylor with a foot injury and Alex Darby with illness, were also underdone.
Panthers coach Warren Taylor said in the end they were beaten by a better drilled team, who shot at a high percentage in the second half.
“I knew we didn’t match up real well against a team like they are,” Taylor said.
“They are a really solid offensive team who go inside-outside really well and they have weapons in a lot of spots.
“As good as we have been defensively this year we are still a step behind being able to stop Wodonga on their best day.”
The Panthers started the better of the two teams but couldn’t match it with Wodonga for the whole four quarters.
They kept Wodonga scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the game and led by eight points at quarter time.
The Panthers still held a two point lead at half time.
“We felt we could force them into a bad day if we got a couple of things done in our game plan,” Taylor said.
“We wanted to limit Teneille Collins’ impact and then push Sarah Mellington away from her strong side.
“Fair to say we got the first part reasonably right with Jayda Hunter and Alex Darby keeping Collins in check. She didn’t hit a field goal until midway through the last quarter.
“Mellington managed to get away on us a little after half time, mostly once the lead blew out.”
In a surprise to the Panthers, it was 18-year-old Bethany Green who did the damage with 18 points.
“We take some solace from having a game plan to stop their stars and having a group of very inexperienced basketballers bust their backsides to make it work,” Taylor said.
“They outscored us 44-14 in the second half. We certainly got tired and started to wear down but we never gave in and threw everything we had at them.”
Darby top scored with 12 points and Jayda Hunter scored nine points, as the other Panthers struggled to find the basket.
Despite the loss, Taylor is ecstatic with how the first season has gone for the women’s side.
“To have no base to work from, with no domestic women’s competition or under-16s, under-18s and under-20s in Wallan, and only being able to field local residents, it was a hell of an effort just to field a team.
“So to finish third out of nine quality teams in our first campaign is awesome. I’m so proud of the group.
“The key was the team harmony and great attitude and approach of the girls. We have built a foundation to grow from now so next year should be fun.”
