Gladiators storm to victory against Durham
The Caledonia Gladiators hosted Durham in the first game of their Easter Sunday Doubleheader and started the day off with a bang. The Gladiators would control the game from the start and take the 34-point win, 77 – 43 in front of a loud Playsport Arena. A special night for the Caledonia Gladiators tonight as we celebrated our Captain and today’s MVP Erin McGarrachan who announced earlier this week that she would retire from professional basketball at the end of this season.
The Gladiators quickly took control of the game in front of their home fans, dominating the first quarter against Durham. The Gladiators would trade baskets with Durham to start the game but after the first five minutes of action would start to pull away, going on a 13 – 0 run towards the end of the quarter. The Gladiators would take the double-digit lead into the second quarter, and wouldn’t look back, extending the lead even more by the end of the first half. The Gladiators shared the ball well throughout the first quarter, with 7 Gladiators getting onto the scoreboard in the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter would continue in the same manner as the first, with the Gladiators increasing their lead to 18 at the half. The Gladiators would kick off another run to start the second quarter, going 11 – 2 to create a 22-point lead within the first four minutes of action. Durham weren’t going down without a fight, starting off a scoring run of their own to bring the deficit back under 20-points. Despite a valent fight toward the end of the first half of basketball, Durham would find themselves on the losing end of an 18-point differential. The Gladiators would stroll to a first half lead, 39 -21.
The score at the end of the first half was 39 – 21 to the Caledonia Gladiators.
The Gladiator would storm out the gate after half-time, putting together their best quarter of the game, putting up a 24 – 7 scoreline in the third quarter of action at Playsport. The Gladiators would quickly take the 20-point lead and kept increasing their lead throughout the quarter, putting on an impressive showing on both the offensive and defensive end of the ball. The Gladiators would struggle from behind the line but that wouldn’t slow them down, with the team converting their opportunities from the paint and going 4 for 6 from the free throw line. The Gladiators would enter the final quarter of action at Playsport with a 35-point lead, 63-28.
With the game very much put to bed by the start of the final quarter, the Gladiators would ensure they showed their Captain off in style, maintaining their 30+ point lead. Durham kept fighting despite the score, and took the final quarter by one-point, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the dominance of the Gladiators throughout the first three quarters of the game. The score at the end of the game was 77 – 43, with the Gladiators taking the 34-point win at home.
Congratulations to our MVP and Captain tonight on an amazing career, we look forward to seeing more of Erin in our last game of the season, away to Cardiff Met Archers, and in the Super League Basketball Playoffs. Also, congratulations to our guard, Hannah Robb who moved up to 9th in all-time championship scoring today with her first basket of the game.
Today’s MVP was Erin McGarrachan:
