Wallan Panthers women had back-to-back wins on the weekend, defeating Collingwood All Stars 87 to 79 on Saturday, and then scoring a 41-point over Blackburn Vikings at home on Sunday.
It was a close first quarter in Saturday’s match before the Panthers pulled away to a 16-point lead in the second quarter.
The All Stars attempted to chase but Wallan managed to hold on securing the victory.
Wallan head coach Carey Papanicolaou said it was an up-and-down game with his side stepping up to the challenge.
“Everybody had a good run – I played my bench a lot. There wasn’t really anybody who stood out because everyone played their bit,” he said.
“Kylah Collins, Olivia Dalmau and Sarah Scott were good. We also had good contributions from Melissa Buckley and a couple of the other younger players.”
Sunday’s game was a battle for second position and decided which side would have a home-court advantage in finals.
Collins had a great game with another double-double scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds, while Olivia Woods and Dalmau both had 17 apiece.
Dalmau opened the game with a pull-up jump shot off a steal to get Wallan on the board early.
As would prove to be the trend for the rest of the game, Blackburn struggled to compete offensively, missing four shot opportunities in the same play.
Both teams struggled to score offensively with 16 scoreless transitions between the sides until Collins hit a three-pointer.
After taking a five-point lead into quarter time, Wallan had a better start in the second term. Buckley sunk back-to-back layups while Dalmau was strong off the ball, securing two rebounds and an assist.
Collins got the scoreboard moving again with a steal and layup finish before Blackburn had its first basket in four transitions.
Wallan got on an 11-point scoring run as Blackburn began to find some consistency in offence.
Woods had a strong period of play with an assist, rebound and jump shot finish before Dalmau scored another three-pointer.
Baskets dried up for a couple of minutes before a steal and layup finish from Collins got the ball rolling again.
Blackburn had a final push with four seconds remaining, she stole the ball to score from a layup, as Wallan headed into half time with a 40 to 25 advantage.
The third quarter saw the trend of the Vikings’ scoring trouble continue, whereas Wallan were able to find the basket.
Showing strength under the ring, the Panthers were finishing second efforts off offensive rebounds, and went into the last break leading 73 to 38.
After a Blackburn timeout in the fourth, the gameplay shifted as the Panthers forced three consecutive turnovers, but unlike their opponents, they were able to finish with baskets including a layup from Abbey Dalmau and a three pointer by Collins.
In the final seconds of the game, a Blackburn turnover ended with a three-pointer by Kaitlyn Bickerton as Wallan secured a 41-point victory.
Papanicolaou said it was a ‘must-win game’ for Wallan.
“We needed to win that game to secure second spot because if Blackburn won, they would’ve got us in a head-to-head and it now gives us a home game for finals so it was really important for us to get that win,” he said.
“The girls were amazing Sunday. We didn’t expect that huge of a win.”
