Sunbury Jets suffered a heartbreaking end to their Big V men’s division 1 season, losing a thrilling elimination final.
Playing finals for the first time since 2009, the Jets travelled to Shepparton to take on the experienced Gators’ line-up.
Trailing by 10 points at three-quarter time, the Jets didn’t give up and took the lead late in the quarter.
But fortunes swung against the Jets in the final minute, a Gators’ basket with 22 seconds to go proving the match winner, 84-82.
Jets coach Andrew Summerville said, in time, his team would look back at the season and the achievement of making finals, but at the moment the loss was a bitter pill to swallow. “Sometimes its easier to lose by 15-20 points than swallowing a loss like that,” he said.
“The guys are gutted to have come down to one basket, and in the end one error ends the season.
“To keep so close to a win in a game on the road against an extremely experienced side is a good achievement.”
The Jets got off to a rough start with Josh Grabham and Kade Marra not making the trip.
It meant that veteran Nathan Sellwood, the only Jets’ member to have played in a senior Big V final, moved into the starting line-up. “He was great for us,” Summerville said. “It’s at this time of year guys like him step up. He got elbowed in the last 30 seconds and had to come off with the blood rule.
“It was the worst time for him to come off. Nathan being out there could have steadied the ship.”
Despite the result, Summerville said it was pleasing to see the side fight back in the last quarter when, a week earlier against Warrnambool, they had been blown out of the game.
Nathan Baker top-scored with 23 points, while Ish Sanders (21) and Mitchell Newton (18) were also dangerous on the scoreboard.
Summerville said this season would set the measure of where they had to be in future. “It’s hard to compare last year to this year, with a different playing group,” he said.
“It’s a measuring stick from this year and if the bulk of the group stays, I think we can contest a championship in the next couple of years.”
The Jets’ youth league women’s team’s season is also over after a loss to Keilor in a low-scoring division 2 clash.
The Thunder won 47-40.
Sophie O’Brien, with 13 points, was the only Jets player in double figures.
Tara Murray
