By JARROD POTTER
IT STARTED – as a lot of great basketball stories do – with a dunk.
First versus second; Shepparton squared off with Casey at Cranbourne Basketball Stadium for top spot in BIG V Division 2.
While the league is shaping up as a battle between these sides, the second home-and-away battle this year was the perfect chance for Casey to prove its championship credentials.
A dour game on the scoreboard at The Fortress forced the defenders to clamp down and keep the Gators and their 203-cm centre John Lewis (17 points, 15 rebounds) away from the ring.
The main defensive effort came from the captain as Dean Johnson (6 points, 2 blocks) forced a number of bad passes to create steals, turnovers and also a pair of awe-inspiring blocks.
Casey had trailed leading into the main break 34-39 but the show began in earnest in the third term.
The “Matt Attack” linked up to earn the lead and shift control as Matt Witherden’s (25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) steal led to an assist and a huge Matt Pebole (13 points, 13 rebounds) slam dunk.
It whipped the crowd into a frenzy and affirmed Casey’s ability to take the win and the number one seeding in the conference.
The Cavaliers had to chase in the final term – left 51-53 down as the lead bobbled back-and-forth – before Casey moved ahead again through a Brad Szalek (5 points) trey.
With only a point separating the sides late in the match – following a three from former Cavalier turned Gator Dylan Wayman (14 points) – the ball found its way to Witherden on the scorer’s side wing with 43 seconds remaining.
Witherden drilled the clutch three-pointer – his sixth of the match – and earned the bonus shot off Wayman to give Casey the 69-63 win – its most important win in a short BIG V history.
Casey went to the top of the ladder and the message has been sent by the Cavaliers, according to coach Stewart Baird.
“We’ve been waiting for it all year,” Baird said.
“We beat them in the first round, but it’s only just been mathematics that have kept us off the top.
“It was close to probably the perfect game for us – we certainly had moments where offensively we weren’t great – we got impatient and took some bad shots – but that second half I couldn’t fault it.”
Baird praised the defence – especially a lock-down game from Michael Batley (4 points, 3 rebounds in man-to-man coverage on Shepparton star Matt Bartlett.
A triple win went to the Cavaliers on Saturday night with Casey’s women and the youth men also snaring hard-earned wins.
The Cavaliers women had to scrap it out with Shepparton to claim a 70-69 victory, led by Natalie Dowdy (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Sammy Johnson (13 points, 6 rebounds), and keep in touch with the top four. Youth men had a 61-47 win over Craigieburn as Sean Mckinnon (17 points, 9 rebounds) took top scoresheet honours.
Casey faces Western Port away on Sunday afternoon with the women playing at midday and the men clashing at 2pm at Somerville Recreation Centre. Youth men face Corio Bay away on Saturday night.
