By JARROD POTTER
GRAND-FINAL heartbreak returned to Casey after the men’s Big V basketball team was bested two games to none by the Shepparton Gators in the series.
The second – and ultimately deciding – grand final clash dashed Casey’s hopes of Big V Division-2 Men’s championship glory.
Shepparton proved too powerful on Saturday night as the Gators claimed a nail-biting one-point win over the Cavaliers.
Captain Dean Johnson found himself in early foul trouble – leaving the challenging task of defending Shepparton’s star import and Big V Division-2 Finals’ Series MVP J.L. Lewis (18 points, 15 rebounds) to centre duo Matt Witherden (26 points, 8 rebounds) and Ash Szalek (4 points, 5 rebounds).
Witherden was left to assume much of the scoring output for the Cavaliers and excelled with the immense task put on his shoulders – with his 26-points coming off 10-of-18 shooting.
Shepparton’s other main weapon – Matt Bartlett (31 points, 4 rebounds) had a great night shooting giving Casey and its depleted guard roster a headache.
Usual starting point Chris Murray suited up but didn’t feature in the clash, giving a bigger workload for Bevan Camilleri (6 points), Steve Michalski (5 points) and Brad Szalek (2 points) to burden.
Import Matt Pebole (14 points, 10 rebounds) continued to post strong numbers, including a clutch three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in the match to force Shepparton to battle on the last play of the match to maintain possession and take the championship.Dean Johnson was awarded the Fair Go, Sport Medal by Shepparton for his good spirit on court this year.
Casey Cavaliers coach Stewart Baird said the initial pain of defeat would ease in time and the club could look back fondly on its achievements – including a minor premiership.
“In the cold light of day, maybe not tomorrow (Sunday), but Monday or Tuesday, we’ll look back and take pride in what we’ve achieved,” Baird said.
“I think the difference in the end was they went to their strengths more consistently than we did and it only takes a couple of times.
“In a one-point game, you go away from your strengths and that’s going to hurt you.
Ultimately tonight (Saturday) – and not last week – there were moments we didn’t execute what we practiced and we went away from what we knew we should be doing.”
Grand-final losses are sadly becoming a common occurrence for the Cavaliers, with the Division-2 Women’s team bested in the finals’ series in 2012 and 2013, but Baird believes the success is coming and the club has the right environment necessary to go one better in seasons to come.
“This club’s got a lot of desire in its culture and that’s building… at the end of the day we’ve had a senior team in the championship game the last three years.” Baird said.
