Shepparton Gators win first finals game

They had to play away at Hume City in the final game of the regular season on August 3.

In the final minutes, they pulled away to win 84-76 and secure finals basketball.

The Gators secured fifth place, but they had to travel back to Broadmeadows to take on Hume City again on Sunday, August 11.

Coach Josh Waight said it was a different game against the same opponent.

“Last week (the August 3 game) we didn’t lose our way, we were locked in for four quarters,” Waight said.

“We probably lost our way a bit in the third quarter.

“To the group’s credit, they bounced back and fought through those tough times.”

Shepparton led most of the first half, but Hume hit back in the third, taking a two-point lead into the final quarter.

Super substitute and Seymour native Tyler Best opened the quarter with a three and a tip-in to wrestle back the lead for Shepparton.

Shepparton’s bench outscored Hume’s 31 to two.

Best said Shepparton knew it was the deeper side.

“I was given the green light to come out and be aggressive off the bench,” Best said.

“We run eight or nine (players) deep.

“We knew these guys (Hume) run five deep, there’s the first five that start, and it really drops after that.

“We wanted to play up-tempo basketball because they don’t have the legs to run with our depth.

“We can play five or six minutes at a time and go hard, and then someone will come in and do the same thing.

“It’s (the depth) not something many other teams have.”

With seven minutes to go Shepparton had a one-point lead.

Enter Josh Kooiman.

The Kiwi point guard had been a steady offensive force all season, but shot just 29 per cent from three, a far cry from the 38 per cent he averaged in division one last season.

In the biggest game on the biggest stage, Kooiman put his shooting woes behind him.

He started by pulling a deep triple off the dribble that was all net.

Next, Kooiman drove in towards the rim, but his defender cut him off.

He turned his back to look for support.

The Hume defender pressed up on him to try and intercept a pass.

Kooiman dropped his shoulder and spun the other way into a floater for a crafty two points.

A Jayden Coke screen led to a miscommunication between two Hume defenders, leaving Kooiman more open than a 7/11 for another three.

Next, he showed off the mid-range game, pulling up on a drive for a leaning jump shot over his defender.

Kooiman’s chaos had ballooned the Shepparton lead to seven points with less than four minutes to go.

Hume fought back to cut the deficit to two before Kooiman got another bucket, driving to the basket to finish with a scoop shot over his defender.

Kooiman’s New Zealand compatriot Dylan Wilkie hit two massive triples in the final minutes, one wide-open and one with a defender in his grill.

The clock ran out for Hume and Shepparton secured the victory 99-95 to move on to the final four.

Kooiman had closed the game with 12 of his 20 points in the final quarter.

“The team have confidence in me, despite my struggles, I know they want me to shoot the ball,” he said.

“They know in the fourth quarter I’m going to get it going for them, they gave me the ball and it went in.

“I always listen to what my mum says, don’t pick up my dribble, so I didn’t.

“We all trust each other, Dylan (Wilkie) is a madman.

“When you watch someone do the work, you believe in them.

“I knew his shots were going in, they knew mine were going in.”

Coach Waight and Best heaped praise on Shepparton’s travelling crowd.

Best said he heard Shepparton more than he heard Hume.

“It felt like a home game,” Best said.

“You probably don’t think of it too much as a spectator, but it really does help us.”

Shepparton travels to take on Keysborough at Rowville Secondary College Eastern Campus on Saturday, August 17, at 8pm, in round two of the finals.

The Gators played maybe their best game of the season away against Keysborough a couple of weeks ago, defeating it 99-78 on July 20.

“They don’t want to see us,” Kooiman said.

“They’re not ready, let’s get it.”