By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE task at hand for the Casey Cavaliers men on Saturday night was literally spelled out in front of them, deep in the bowels of the Cranbourne Basketball Stadium prior to the game.
Their Melton opponents didn’t need to win the Big V basketball clash to make the play-offs. Casey did, and boy was the side up against it.
They were faced with the task of locking their ’Fortress’ home floor down against the rampant league-leading Thoroughbreds – featuring one of the competition’s most gifted floor generals, Jeff Crowe.
Cavs coach Stewart Baird stood front and centre in front of his charges, composed and focussed – with a plan scrawled across his whiteboard to bring down the league’s best.
– “Look after the ball and their possessions.”
– “Box out. DO NOT give up offensive boards.”
– “If the shot isn’t there, don’t take it. Don’t hesitate – dish it off.”
Just as the Cavs were about to leave the locker room and head out into the heat of the Fortress, spurred on by the Casey women’s 67-58 defeat of Southern Peninsula earlier in the night, Baird recited a quote from the late Jim Valvano – inspirational coach of the 1983 NCAA-championship winning North Carolina State University.
“Every day ordinary people do extraordinary things. Make this our day.”
Casey trailed after the end of the term, but only by two points 16-14. They’d limited Melton’s outside shooting game and, at times, got to them mentally. Jon Hawes and Dean Johnson were active on the boards, making the much taller Thoroughbreds earn their rebounds.
But Baird knew Melton had a lot left in the tank.
“We have to make their defence work harder than that,” he pleaded with his charges at the quarter-time huddle.
“We have to get inside looks.”
The Cavs listened. Despite some cold patches, they outscored the Thoroughbreds 22-20 in the second to head back to the change-rooms at half-time with the score tied at 36. Back in the rooms, Jamie Leclerc had a bleeding hip patched up. The wound was a battle scar he could wear with honour after a stellar first half effort.
“When we stopped worrying about (referees’) calls going our way, we outscored them 13-7,” Baird said to a pumped-up group.
“Continue working Crowe.
“Exhaust him. Niggle him. Burn a foul on him if you have to.
“Defensive stops are our focus – the rest will take care of itself.”
Tied at the half, the next 20 minutes of regulation time was still unable to separate the two sides.
Ash Szalek, Ryan Sinclair (12 points, 5 rebounds), Morgan and Hawes (16 points, 16 boards) worked themselves to the bone. But late in the fourth, with the Cavs up five points, Melton stood tallest. An unlikely five-minute burst in under a minute sent the game to overtime at 68 apiece.
But the Cavs ran out of steam and, almost predictably, Crowe (27 points) nailed some big-time shots to rub salt in the wound. Casey could only manage five points in OT, while Melton scored 15. It seemed the Cavs’ play-off dream was over, losing 83-73.
Baird was in a state of disbelief in the rooms after the final buzzer. How could his side try so gallantly, and fall so cruelly?
“I guess, sometimes, fairytales just don’t come true,” he said.
But fate wasn’t finished messing with the Cavs’ hearts. As the dejected group was packing up to head home, they got the late news that other results around the league had gone their way that night. Their play-off dream was still alive afterall. Nothing had changed.
