STAWELL Wildcats’ men’s and women’s basketball sides are confident of improvement despite suffering losses in their matches at the weekend.
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The Wildcats’ women’s team is yet to produce a victory after it was easily beaten by Portland and Mt Gambier on Saturday night and Sunday, but showed glimpses of good play.
Coach Grace Bibby said with less than a full-strength side to call on, her team performed better than expected in its 75-38 defeat against Portland.
“We probably did better than we were expecting because we were a bit undermanned,” she said.
“We were short on numbers and it took a while for us to get our rotations right.”
The woman have two matches remaining in their season campaign – both against Colac Kookas – before and after the Christmas break.
Bibby said her side would be looking to build its form as the season enters its final stages.
The Wildcats were blown away by Mt Gambier in the second and third stanzas, but held their own in the opening and closing quarters in their 70-46 loss.
“They transitioned into offence better than we did and they were scoring off fast breaks,” Bibby said.
“We’ve done quite well considering where we’ve come from, so hopefully it will hold us in good stead going forward.
“We’re showing a lot of improvement.”
The men’s side – which has claimed just one win for the season – was beaten by Portland 93-37 and by Mt Gambier 91-44, but coach Ben Leslie said playing against quality opposition was an important learning curve for the young side.
“We had the young blokes all contribute big minutes and earn lots of experience against far better teams,” he said.
Leslie said the likes of Jake Stainsby, Paul Summers, Aidan Marr and Michael Hackwill all performed well.
“We tried to push them as long as we can by defending as hard as we can and running our offensive systems for as long as we can,” he said.
“Most teams we play are very good at pressuring, and sometimes we lack a bit of composure and panic under perceived pressure.
“Over the course of the year, the players have learned immeasurably what it takes to perform well against these strong sides.”