And that quest for glory will come to its dramatic end in the form of a cut-throat three-game grand finals series against Bellarine, beginning at Bellarine Sports Centre this Saturday night.
Finishing the home and away season in third place, Shepparton has timed its run to perfection, producing its best basketball in the post-season to romp past RMIT and Keysborough and clinch a place in the big dance.
But while the Gators have peaked at the right time, so has Bellarine.
Coming into the finals series as a fourth seed, the Storm easily took care of business in their elimination final against Corio Bay.
Before delivering the shock of the 2022 season by knocking off minor premier Melbourne University in three games to stamp their ticket to the big dance.
With the stage perfectly set for an epic grand final series, Shepparton coach Josh Waight said his team was excited about the occasion.
“Everyone is so pumped to get out on the court and put on a really good show in Bellarine,” Waight said.
“We know they are a pretty well-oiled group, so we need to make sure we are ready to go and the group is really excited to take on that challenge and bring a 1-0 series lead back home to Shepparton.”
This series will present a different challenge for the Gators, as they begin away from home, before hosting the final two games if required.
Understanding the importance of getting off to a good start, Waight said the focus would be on taking the hostile crowd out of it in the early stages of the contest.
“It does give them a bit of an advantage hosting the first game, but we know we have a game plan and hopefully we can do a good job of executing it,” he said.
“The goal for us is simple, bring a 1-0 lead back to Shepparton, that first game is so important in a series, so we need to be switched on from the start and take the crowd out of it as quickly as possible.”
The Gators and Storm split their regular season series one-all, with the Shepparton side prevailing by 22 at home in round three and falling by six on the road in round 17.
Waight said he had a good understanding of what made Bellarine tick and what his team would need to do to stop it.
“We’ll make a few changes, more on the defensive end, on how we are going to stop Bellarine, who have some really lights out shooters,” he said.
“We found last time we played them a couple of their role players really got off the chain and hurt us, so it will be super important to limit their influence and stay locked in on the defensive end.
“And then on offensive it will once again be about getting that even contribution, we have 10 guys who can score the ball in different ways, so getting some flow on that end of the floor will be vital.”
Shepparton begins its grand final series against the Storm on Saturday at Bellarine Sports Centre with tip off at 5.30pm.
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