Gallery | Gators win home opener in front of big crowd

Supporters came from far and wide for the Shepparton Gators’ first home game of the season and they were not disappointed.

The Gators were all class in their 10-point win against Collingwood on Saturday night, with the round two, division one Big V basketball clash, the side’s first at Shepparton Sports Stadium for the year.

It was a convincing victory across the court, with the home side outscoring Collingwood in three of four quarters.

American import Garrett Jefferson was the Gators’ top-scorer with 14, Matt Bartlett led the assist chart with six and Sam Beks performed well with seven defensive rebounds.

Gators coach Josh Waight said the side played really well.

“It was pleasing to get a home win,” Waight said.

“It was really good to have lots of support, the boys enjoy putting on a show in front of a home crowd.”

Waight said it was a well-rounded performance across the floor, with strong defending and a good offensive unit sharing the points around.

The side was looking to bounce back from a nail-biting one-point round one loss to Warrandyte and Waight explained how the side turned it around.

“We fine-tuned some things, to get better at keeping shot positions,” he said.

“We are continuing to gel as a group and our defence has worked well so far, just working on the offence.”

The Gators will need to recover quickly ahead of a big weekend of basketball coming up.

Shepparton will host the first of a round three double-header, taking on Bellarine at Shepparton Sports Stadium on Saturday, followed by a trip to the Hillview Stadium to take on Southern Peninusla.

“We’ll be ready to play, they (Bellarine) had a double-header early against two top sides and had a number of players out, we are not underestimating them, they’re a quality side,” Waight said.

The Gators will remain full strength going into Saturday’s match, while the Whitlock brothers are set to miss Sunday’s game.