Gators put bite on Suns

ALTONA Gators Nathan and Jeremy Marsh and Daniel Kraljevic were too big and strong for an undermanned Sherbrooke Suns, in their Division 1 basketball clash on Saturday night.
After being down nine points at the first break, the Suns put in a fine defensive effort in the second term to lead by a point at half time.
In the second half though, Altona’s size and defensive pressure told as the Suns made several uncharacteristic errors/turnovers giving the Gators a 99 to 87 win.
Sherbrooke were well served by Dave Wilson with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Aaron Lester 16/12, Mike Schultz 15 pts and John Greig 13 pts.
On a brighter note, the Division 2 Sherbrooke Suns women recorded their second win of the season with a 71-58 victory against the Altona Gators in a scrappy/hard-fought affair.
The Suns lead by 8 at quarter time, 5 at the main break and 7 going into the last quarter. Sherbrooke’s best players were Rachael Fearon-Brown with 15 pts and 8 rebounds, Robyn Ladd 9/13 with 5 assists and 7 steals and Sharlene Fraser 9/7.
A feature of the Suns win was their defensive pressure, which forced Altona to have 28 turnovers.
In the Youth League, the Suns moved to the top of the table on the back of a comprehensive 107 to 78 rout of Hume City.
Sherbrooke led from the opening tip-off going in at quarter time leading by 12 pts and increasing that to 21 at half time.
The Broncos came out strong in the second half and tried to intimidate the Suns, but this had little impact on the scoreboard as the Suns dominated both ends of the court.
Best players for Sherbrooke were Matt Cromarty with 20 pts and 18 rebounds (11 defensive), Mark Derksen 15/5 with 4 steals and 4 assists and David Black 16/7. Peter Lankester also played one of his better games for the Suns with 11 pts and 7 rebounds.
All teams now have a break for Easter and continue with away games against Hawthorn.
Magic (Div 1) on 15/04, Southern Peninsula (Div 2 W) on 14/04 and Bulleen (YL) on 15/4.