Wallan Panthers division two men lost to top of the ladder Whittlesea Pacers 83 to 94 on Sunday.
Tyler Best had a strong shooting game with 23 points, while Tom O’Connor had another big game under the ring hitting another double-double, with 12 points and a huge 16 rebounds.
O’Connor started strong winning the jump ball, grabbing three defensive rebounds and a block before Whittlesea opened the scoring with a three pointer off a steal.
Arcaim Lallemand hit four points putting Wallan on the board but Whittlesea maintained its lead, responding to each Panthers’ basket with one of their own.
Best was a consistent scorer but the Panthers headed into the second quarter trailing by nine points.
Wallan started strong in the second term, taking advantage of Whittlesea’s missed baskets and converting down the offensive end, bringing the game to within two points.
However the Panthers remained behind, and with turnovers and missed shots in the final moments they headed into halftime trailing by eight points.
Neither team could buy a basket in the third quarter as both teams missed shots and had turnovers, as Wallan was unable to hit a basket for five minutes.
Although the Pacers were also inconsistent offensively, their occasional basket kept them ahead.
A foul sent Wallan’s Dominic Bruno to the foul line with 11 seconds remaining, and he hit both to bring the game to within five points heading into the final quarter.
Best had a strong start in the fourth quarter opening Wallan’s scoring but the offensive end remained a challenge for the Panthers as they continued struggling to score for the rest of the game.
One of Wallan’s key shooters, Keenan Gorski, returned this week and in true Gorski fashion, he ended the game by hitting a pull-up three pointer.
But it wasn’t the Panthers’ day, going down by 11 points.
Gorski was consistently scoring big for the side prior to missing the last few games but he struggled to score on Sunday making for a tough return.
But Wallan’s head coach Tim Annett is confident Gorski would return to form as heading into finals.
“He’s going to be better for the run. He didn’t fly back in until 12.30am Saturday so he was very jetlagged and definitely not himself,” he said.
“He’ll benefit from the run and be a lot better next weekend.”
Annett said it wasn’t Wallan’s day down the offensive end.
“It was disappointing to not get a result. We certainly didn’t play our best but once again, we fell just short to one of the top teams. We’re definitely still in it – we’ve just got to get over the line.
“We couldn’t really get going offensively at all at any stage in the match.
“We didn’t make many three point shots, which is generally something we’ve always been really strong at.
“We were probably too reliant on too few people to carry the load scoring and it didn’t help at the end with Arcaim [Lallemand] getting fouled out either.”
Annett said Best and O’Connor were standout players for the game.
“Those two guys definitely were the most consistent performers over four quarters at both ends of the floor. They’ve both done a really good job for us so they were clear standouts,” he said.
This weekend Wallan has a double header in the final round of the regular season, playing away at Altona on Saturday night before returning home to play Surf Coast on Sunday.
The Panthers currently sit fourth.
“We’re going into both games wanting to win both,” Annett said.
“We’ve still got an outside chance of trying to secure a top three position, which will give us a double chance but we’re just sort of motivated to finish their year with two wins so we can carry some confidence going into finals.”
Women score a win
Wallan Panthers division two women won at home on Sunday defeating Coburg Giants 91 to 75.
Wallan guard Sarah Scott had an incredible shooting game with 30 points, while the ever-consistent Kylah Collins had another double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Coburg controlled the game from the jump with a three-pointer while Wallan struggled to score and had early turnovers.
Both teams struggled to finish offensively and scoreboard movement was slow, with a tied game at seven apiece with three minutes remaining.
A quick scoring run from Coburg put them ahead by six points at the end of the first quarter.
Early scoring efforts at the top of the second quarter brought Wallan back to within three points until Coburg jumped back out to lead by 11.
The offensive end continued to be challenging for the Panthers with missed baskets and seven turnovers for the quarter as they headed into halftime trailing by 16 points.
The Panthers didn’t give up, opening the third quarter with a strong seven point start, as Collins brought the intensity to make two free throws, a steal and an assist to kick off the comeback quarter.
Wallan’s 16-point scoring run brought the game back to within three points.
A three-pointer from Kaitlyn Bickerton put Wallan in front for the first time since the first quarter, and the Panthers capitalised on their momentum to extend their lead to six as Coburg struggled to contain them.
The game remained tight until a three-pointer from the Giants put them back in front with 18 seconds remaining with the scoreline 56-57 Coburg’s way.
In the final quarter, Wallan started strongly to add 15 points to the scoreboard prompting a timeout from the Coburg.
With Wallan up 75 to 67, continued pressure, offensive domination and strong rebounding meant the Panthers were able to hang on by 16 points.
This weekend, Wallan has a double-header playing two homes – against Gippsland United on Saturday and Surf Coast on Sunday.