It was a successful night at RB Robson Stadium as both Wallan’s men’s and women’s sides took out wins over Sherbrooke Suns.
The Panthers women opened the night with a 74-67 come from behind win.
After trailing from midway through the first period, the Panthers took the lead in the fourth on the back of a 12-0 run.
Three straight buckets from Rebecca Romeo in the final two minutes and clutch free throws from Carly Simons at the death was enough for the Panthers to hold the Suns off.
Romeo was massive for Wallan, scoring 25 points and grabbing 17 rebounds as well as five assists.
Simons was also important with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Wallan coach Warren Taylor said the first half was littered with mistakes and turnovers but there were some promising signs.
“At half-time we were doing most things well but only a few wrong, so it was there but we just had to tighten some things up and that was the difference in the second half.
“Rebecca had 20 of her 25 in the second half so that was some special stuff.
“It took us a while to get ourselves going but Carly and Rebecca have a great ability to link up and it showed how important their abilities were at the right time.”
Taylor said Karina Marasco did a great job defending Sherbrooke import Deslyn Applewhaite late.
“She went to their import and was outstanding defensively. They need her to have the ball and she just denied her which was hugely important for us,” he said.
The Panthers’ men followed up with a 94-80 win over Sherbrooke after taking control of the second half.
The two teams were tied at 19-19 after the first period but Wallan was able to grab the advantage in the second to lead by four points at half-time.
The Panthers kept plugging away in the second half and slowly built a 14-point lead late in the third before two quick Suns baskets brought the margin back to 10 points.
A 12-0 Panthers run in the fourth had the lead out to 20 points before the Suns replied with a quick 6-0 run but it was too late as the final buzzer sounded.
Leigh Saffin led the Panthers with 19 points, five rebounds and one assists while Brock Carter and Trace Cureton had almost identical stat lines of 18 points and 15 rebounds.
The Panthers’ men travel to Craigieburn this week for a local grudge match while the women travel to Coburg.