Wallan Panthers’ division two men almost had it in the bag at Saturday night’s game, but the new side is still learning to work together.
A long way from home, the Panthers lost 89 to 72 against Mornington Breakers at Mornington Basketball Stadium in round three of the Big V competition.
The first quarter was a promising start for both teams, with Panther’s Trent Cousins making the first basket of the game, giving the side the momentum to take a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Breakers quickly took over the game in the second round, jumping to 31 points, but the Panthers picked up the pace in the last two quarters, showing all the signs of competitive basketball.
Men’s coach Travis Heal, new to the Panthers this year, said the team was still working hard to find its identity.
“I think we’re very competitive, the team is still sort of coming together, and we’re still working hard to find our identity, but I think we’re on the right track and given time we will be pretty competitive with the rest of the league,” he said.
“We focused on trying to get good shots, a good shot is an uncontested shot in my mind, not something that has to be forced and contested, and that’s the bit where we’re learning to come together still.
“I don’t think anybody actually stood out, I think that we played a decent team game, we didn’t play an outstanding team game that’s for sure … I think as an identity, we’re all just sort of finding our way and coming together and learning to trust each other.”
The team has a different side this season with new and returning players, however it has lost a few along the way including American star player Arcaim Lallemand.
“We don’t have our American import as it stands, he’s still not back in the country due to his immigration … that’s a big hole,” Heal said.
Heal said by the middle of the season, it would be a challenge for other teams to get around.
“In practice, we’ve got our systems that we were installing – it’s just a matter of everyone buying in and playing together as a team and I think it’s coming along,” he said.
“There [were] lots of moments [throughout the game], and that’s why there’s a lot of promise in what we’re doing, we’re making really good inroads of getting to where we want to be, we’re just not there yet.”
Looking forward to next week’s game against Melton, Heal said defence would be the focus.
“[Melton] are certainly a high scoring team and controlling the tempo, I think they look like they want to push the ball and get a lot of shots, where we want to make sure that we play our game, not their game,” he said.
Women
Panther’s women had a 19-point loss to Collingwood at the weekend.
A slow start, the game was not looking good for the Panthers from the jump ball, only making nine points by the end of the first quarter, giving Collingwood a 21-point lead.
Slow improvements were made in the second quarter under the talents of Wallan’s Kylah Collins, bumping the scoreboard in the first five minutes.
Wallan’s Olivia Dalmau was another standout performer with 20 points to her name.
Collingwood outscored the Panthers every quarter, but Wallan brought more of their game in the last quarter with 18 points, however it was still not enough.
Women Panthers will compete against Surf Coast this Saturday in round four.
