WALLAN took a much-needed victory in division two of the Big V Men’s competition on Saturday night, recording an eight-point win against Mornington.
The Panthers made a great start by opening a six-point lead in the opening term, 26-20, and continued on by scoring 27 points to 17 in the second term to lead by 16 points at the main break, 53-37.
With a big chance of taking a victory, Wallan had to withstand a Mornington comeback led by Matthew Wolfe, who would score 41 points in a lone hand.
However, the Panthers seemed to have all the answers, despite losing the third quarter 23-16 to maintain their lead at the final change, 69-60.
While Mornington continued to push hard, the Panthers went bucket-for-bucket with them to ensure it would take a second win of the season, 87-79.
Five Panthers scored over 10 points, with Jon Bailey leading the way with 19 points and seven rebounds. Jayden O’Brien and Adam Gatt had strong outings off the bench with 14 and 10 points respectively, while Dion Stacey scored 12 points and William Stewart scored 11 points.
In the women’s competition, Wallan continues to be one of the main contenders by scoring another victory, this time a seven-point win over Coburg.
It was a tight affair all throughout at Coburg, with Wallan taking a slight three-point lead in the first quarter, scoring 18 points to 15.
The Panthers were meeting all of Coburg’s challenges in the second term, and were able to extend the margin by four points thanks to some late buckets, leading 37-30 at the main break.
Coburg had its strongest quarter in the third term, and in what was a high-scoring period, there was a very entertaining battle at play.
Wallan continued to do enough to continue leading at the final change, 60-56.
A quick nine-point run without response saw the Panthers take control of the game in the final term, and they did enough to eventually finish 77-70 winners.
Emmie Gardiner was simply dominant, scoring 27 points, 23 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, while Ranika Guyton was also efficient in scoring 24 points and dishing out six assists.
In Youth League, Wallan’s men did enough in the first half to hold off all of Whittlesea’s challenges, claiming a 98-94 win over Whittlesea.
In an even team performance, six Panthers scored above 10 points, led by Rhylee Leighton with 16 points.
In the women’s competition, Wallan were unable to get their scoring together in losing by 27 points to Sunbury, 37-64.
Tahlia Onley led all scorers with eight points.
