Harper Sercombe
The Sunbury Jets are out of the Big V championship men’s finals series in straight sets following a loss to McKinnon on Saturday.
Directly after the loss Jet’s coach John White alerted the players to his decision to leave his role as head coach.
This is the second consecutive season the Jets have failed to win the championship after finishing in the top three. Last season they lost the grand final to Wyndham, before finishing third after the regular season this year.
The Jets were down from early on being down by nine points at both quarter and half time. The Jets went on to lose 96-84.
White said it was similar to his side’s performance against Hume in the first final.
“McKinnon were able to definitely get us out of what we were trying to do, there was a period within the second and third quarters yesterday where I think the foul count was zero to 12 in favour of McKinnon,” he said.
“They were definitely forcing us to foul them and putting pressure on us defensively, and also when it came to our offence they were stretching us up the floor and making us catch the ball out of position.
“Their game plan was solid, so it’s hard when you’re short manned and try to deal with the finals pressure, as well as to have that pressure coming from an opposition team on the floor.”
Although the Jets were adamant on making amends to last season’s performance, he said he is proud of what they have been able to achieve.
“There were a lot of extenuating circumstances that probably worked against us this year, from the start of the year it was just a bit disjointed and I think that reflected in our performances on the court,” White said.
“But [I’m] still really happy in terms of what the guys were able to achieve throughout the year and watching a lot of them grow as players and as people as well.
“I’m really proud to be a part of that.”
A shining light for the Jets on the floor on Saturday was their prolific scorer Ish Sanders who had 33 points. White said he has been fantastic this season in his ability to adapt to opposition’s plans against him.
“It was a really good example of how even at the age of 30, a seasoned veteran can still adjust their game to suit and learn about how teams are going to approach him as a player,” he said.
“It’s been sensational on his behalf, I’ve been really lucky to work with Ish over the last two years.”
While White is stepping down for personal reasons, he hopes the Jets don’t go through a full rebuild as he believes the core group can take them to premiership success. He previously coached the women’s side before stepping into the men’s program.
“There’s some really, really good people in that team,” he said.
“If it was me, I’d be looking at keeping that key nucleus together and putting some pieces around them.
“But it’s going to be up to the new coach.”
Meanwhile, the Jets youth league 2 men’s side managed to come away with the championship, beating the Whittlesea Pacers in overtime on Saturday night.
