IT was a mixed weekend for Wallan in the Big V competition as it hosted two home games across Saturday night.
Saturday night’s action started with Wallan’s women looking to make it two from two against Shepparton.
Any fears that Shepparton might catch the Panthers out by surprise were very quickly negated as Wallan did what it pleased throughout the first quarter, scoring at will and opening up a 22-point lead after scoring 31 points to nine.
The Panthers continued to dominate in the second quarter, scoring 23 points to seven and opening up a 38-point lead at the main break, 54-16.
While there may have been a slight excuse to take the foot off the pedal, Wallan wasn’t interested in the third quarter, and the Panthers continued to dominate affairs, scoring 27 points to 13 for the term to lead 81-29 at the final change.
Shepparton negated Wallan’s scoring power in the last quarter, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Panthers from winning 97-45.
Five Panthers scored in double digits, led by Ranika Guyton with 19 points, five assists and three steals, while Emmie Gardiner had 17 points and 16 boards. Kody West-Linnett and Ruby Pantisano scored 12 points apiece, while Carley Cranston had 11 points and seven assists.
The men followed as the Panthers hosted Sherbrooke, but despite a reasonably competitive opening half, they just couldn’t quite go with the Suns as they lost by 40 points.
The Panthers had a spirited start, scoring 25 points in the first quarter, but conceding 32 to trail by seven at the first change.
Wallan kept in touch, but Sherbrooke was just that little bit better in the second term, scoring 27 points to 20 to lead 59-45 at the main break.
Sherbrooke then broke the game open in the third term, scoring 31 points to 15 to essentially seal the game, leading by 30 points at the final change, 90-60.
The Suns scored 22 points to 12 in the last term to eventually win 112-72.
Lachlan Lombardo had a good individual game, scoring 26 points, while Nathan Aikman was relentless in spending the whole game on the court, collecting 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Similarly, Wallan’s youth league men struggled against Sherbrooke.
A first quarter barrage where the Suns scored 33 points to 13 meant the Panthers were in a hole they could not dig their way out of all day, while Sherbrooke continued to manage the margin.
Try as they might, the Panthers couldn’t make inroads on the margin, losing 79-104.
Rhylee Leighton performed strongly to have 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Hunter Graham and Brody Thrum scored 14 points apiece.
Similarly, the Panthers youth league women were outclassed by Wyndham, losing 95-48.
The Panthers started okay and kept in touch at quarter time, trailing 25-14, but Wyndham took over in the second and third quarters to blow the margin out, before easing home in the final term.
Paige Schultz led all scorers for the Panthers with 12 points.