Shepparton Gators battle through adversity

After three games away from home, the Gators finally had a chance to defend their home court.

The weekend could have gotten off to a better start.

Gators head coach Josh Waight said their opening game was the most disappointing performance of the season, as they were dominated 75-106 by Keysborough.

“Keysborough are a hard team to beat,” Waight said.

“Especially when they’re shooting like that, but we let them shoot like that.

“It was disappointing, but that’s the good thing about a back-to-back: You get to come out the next day and redeem yourself.”

The Gators reset and came out against McKinnon swinging.

Kiwi sharpshooter Josh Kooiman got the Swamp rocking, his catch-and-shoot three from the top of the key Shepparton’s first made field goal.

McKinnon answered with a few buckets of their own, getting out to an early lead.

McKinnon drove to the basket, looking to extend the margin, but Shepparton’s Canadian import Jayden Coke met him at the summit, blocking the shot as if he was spiking a volleyball.

He chased down the loose ball, turning defence into offence in a split second.

Two defenders stood in his way, backtracking desperately to get in front of the locomotive attacking the basket.

Coke simply split them down the middle for a layup.

Just a few plays later, some good interior defence from Shepparton’s big American Devin Thomas led to another loose ball, Coke pouncing on it again like a shark that smells blood.

Again, McKinnon tried to build a wall, but some sweet footwork gave Coke enough space to finish through the contact and the foul.

He converted the free throw, and a few triples from the Gators cut the lead to two after the first quarter.

Coke got going again in the second, and Kooiman found him under the basket for an easy score.

On the next possession, Coke went downhill again — McKinnon grew so mindful of his drive that they sent multiple defenders at him.

Coke dumped it off to Benalla’s big man, Lachy Kego, this time for two points.

Next, a Kooiman three dropped short, with the New Zealander chasing down his own rebound.

He once again found Coke with a bounce pass, handing Shepparton its first lead since the first few minutes of the game.

He was fouled on a jump shot, adding two more points from the free-throw line.

Coke had busted the game wide open with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in just 16 minutes.

And then, disaster struck.

A McKinnon player drove in, and Coke looked to replicate his highlight block from earlier.

He swung and missed, bracing himself against the wall.

All watching could immediately tell something was wrong.

Coke turned around, holding his hand and motioned to the bench for a substitution.

He had dislocated his thumb and would not return to the contest.

Waight said Coke was in a lot of pain and would be going into surgery on Monday afternoon, May 20.

Shepparton continued to fight in the second half and kept it close, but ultimately didn’t have enough.

McKinnon took the win 81-71.

“We were playing well, Jayden (Coke) was playing really well,” Waight said.

“When he went down, the boys dug deep.

“They could’ve easily thrown in the towel and taken another big loss, but they kept competing and gave themselves a chance to win it.”

Waight said Coke had to see a specialist before they knew how long he would be out.

With defensive guard Tom Frame about to leave the team to travel and Coke out for at least a couple of games, Shepparton will have to find the next gear if the side wants to climb from eighth position and have a chance of finals basketball.

“We’ve shown we can compete with the best,” Waight said.

“Now it’s time to clean up a few of our lapses and put out some more consistent performances.

“It’s time to get some results.”

Shepparton welcomes Camberwell to the Shepparton Sports Stadium this Saturday, May 25, for a 7pm tip-off.