The Wallan Panthers Division Two Men secured a victory on Sunday, beating the Maccabi Warriors 89 to 61.
Wallan opened the scoring in the first quarter with two free throws.
Maccabi struggled to convert, missing shot attempts throughout the game.
Wallan took advantage, grabbing rebounds and dominating in offence with consistent scoring to take a 23-10 lead in the first quarter.
Jayden O’Brien opened the second quarter with a three-pointer for Wallan who continued to have a comfortable lead.
The Panthers halted Maccabi’s offensive run, restricting their score for the remaining five minutes of the second quarter. Heading into the half the Panthers were comfortably ahead 49 to 20.
“We went into the game knowing if we got a good start, it’d be a good opportunity for us to have a solid win,” coach Tim Annett said.
“We haven’t played four quarters all season so that was our aim going into the game. Obviously we started the first quarter well and everything flowed on from there.”
Maccabi opened the third with Klas hitting another jump shot before Keenan Gorski got Wallan’s first two points for the quarter. Scoring efforts were evenly matched, with consistent play from Wallan who remained up 75 to 49.
Tom O’Connor hit a pullup jump shot for the Panthers, which was followed by some quick baskets. But then scoring went quiet for Wallan who hit 85 with four and a half minutes to go.
The side didn’t score again until both O’Brien and Tyler Best ended the game with floaters.
O’Brien had a standout performance with 30 points off the bench, adding four rebounds and one assist.
“Jayden’s just sort of come to our team full-time now from youth league. He’s obviously showed some form early on in the season for us and I think going forward we’ll get good development out of him and he’ll have a consistent year,” Arnett said.
“It was one of those games where, obviously Jayden had a standout game and Keenan was very solid at both ends of the floor, but every other guy played their role and did their job, which is sort of the style we’re trying to play where we don’t have to rely on one or two people every game.
“It was just good to finally play four quarters and we’re hoping we can carry that momentum into next weekend.”
Wallan sit fourth on the ladder and have a double header next weekend facing Craigieburn away on Saturday and Mornington at home on Sunday.
Youth league
Wallan Division Two Youth League also had a win on the weekend, beating Melbourne University in a close home game 94 to 88 after trailing until the final two minutes.
In an evenly matched first quarter, Melbourne University pulled ahead 16 to 11.
The game remained close in the second but Wallan drew the game 28-all with just under two minutes to go before Melbourne once again pulled ahead.
The Panthers drew the game for a second time with 37 seconds remaining but a three-point jump-shot from Charlie Cumberlidge put Melbourne three points before the final quarter siren.
The Panthers were never far behind but Melbourne headed into the final quarter with a 60-57 lead.
Melbourne continued to lead in the fourth quarter until Luke Cairns shot a three pointer with five minutes remaining, drawing the game at 79-all.
Melbourne hit a two point jumper, but a three point shot in response from Sebastian Villegas put the Panthers in front for the first time.
The lead see-sawed, with the Panthers ahead 89-85 with just under a minute remaining.
A three-pointer for Melbourne brought them back within one point, but consistent scoring from Wallan and solid defence secured the win in the final two minutes of the game.
“I felt like the guys really stuck together through all the ups and downs and managed to find a way to come out of it with a win. That’s always a really big positive,” Wallan coach Jarrod Bridge said.
Wallan was able to contain Joshua McNally from Melbourne, who had 37 points the week prior, and was averaging 18 a game, to 12 points.
“Josh McNally was a big part of the game play to reduce his impact in the game which we did,” Bridge said.
“I guess our other major goal was to play a little more physically. Quite a lot of the time the guys struggle where it gets a little too physical for them.
“We’ve been working on it with our men’s team to get a little more durable.”
Bridge said finals were the aim for the youth team, and developing each player individually.
Sebastian Villegas had an impressive game with 23 off the bench and Luke Carins added 20 to the sides win.
The side will face Mornington in an away game next Sunday.
