A double header of action saw Echuca defeated by Wodonga Wolves on Saturday night, but the side rebounded to overcome Shepparton Gators on Sunday afternoon.
Wodonga is looking in strong form to start the CBL season, and the Wolves put in a complete performance against Echuca on the Pirates’ home court at Echuca Basketball Stadium.
After the Pirates opened the scoring, the Wolves took control, with Frank Oguche doing most of the damage.
The Wodonga blitzkrieg continued throughout the first quarter and it seemed like everything was falling for the visitor, who took a 38-9 lead into the first break.
Echuca responded well in the second, and as the Wolves cooled off and the scoring became much more even over the ensuing periods.
Across quarters two to four, the score read only 47-39 in the Wolves’ favour, but the domination of the first period resulted in a lopsided final margin, Wodonga prevailing 85-48.
The Pirates managed to restrict many of Wodonga’s key scorers in the later quarters and it was left to star man Eric Miraflores to carry the scoring load for the Wolves.
Miraflores torched the Pirates to the tune of 27 points, including five makes from beyond the arc.
Outside shooting shaped as a key difference maker in the match-up, with Wodonga nailing 11 threes compared to just two from the Pirates.
Oguche (16) and Alexander Massey (14) also made double-figure contributions to the Wolves.
For Echuca, Oscar Jones and Joey Mizzi put up 12 points apiece to lead the Pirates.
Still stinging from their first loss of the year, Echuca followed up at Shepparton Sports Complex on Sunday against the Gators.
Neither side could gain much of an advantage throughout the contest, but Echuca kicked away late in the first quarter to take a valuable six-point lead into the first break.
The advantage was stretched to double-digits for much of the second, but the Gators surged midway through the period, drawing to within four at half-time.
It came as close as two when Shepparton opened the scoring in the second half, but a 10-2 run from Echuca prompted a Gators timeout.
Shepp briefly regrouped, but the Pirates continued to knock down shots late in the period to take a 70-59 lead into the final period.
In a tense final few minutes, the Gators worked their way back to within just two points, but the home side wasn’t able to convert in the final seconds, allowing the Pirates to escape 83-78.
Tyler Phillips (20) logged his second strong scoring performance of the year, while Oscar Jones (18) was a willing accomplice.
Thomas Frame (23) carried the scoring load for the beaten Gators.
In the current standings, with teams having played an uneven number of games, the Pirates 2-1 is good enough for top spot in the division ahead of unbeaten Albury and Wodonga.
The Echuca Pirates have another double header coming up this weekend, with both matches to be played at home.
Echuca will take on Mansfield at 6pm on Saturday, October 19, before backing up against Seymour at noon on October 20.
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