The Caledonia Gladiators had home court advantage to kick off the SBL Play-offs against Manchester Basketball. A close game in front of a loud Playsport, would see the Gladiators take the win and advance to the Semi-Final. Both teams battled hard in the win or go home game but a strong second quarter by the Gladiators pushed them to victory. The Gladiators will head out on the road to face top seeded Oaklands Wolves next weekend in the SLB Play-offs Semi-Final.
The game started off with both team trading baskets, with the Gladiators coming out of the 10 minutes up by the narrowest of margins, one-point. Both teams would struggle to find their rhythm to start the game, with a combined 2 for 8 shooting from behind the three-point line and both teams unable to covert from midrange. Kat Tudor and Mathilde Domenger shared the scoring burden for the first five minutes of the first quarter, putting up 11 points between them. With the Gladiators down by one with 20 seconds left of the quarter, Delaynie Byrne put in a lay-up to take the one-point lead and start the Gladiators momentum going into the second quarter. The score at the end of the first quarter was 19 – 18 to the Caledonia Gladiators.
The Gladiators began to increase their lead in the second quarter of action at Playsport, taking a 9-point lead into the half-time break. The second quarter started much like the first, with the two teams trading baskets. It wasn’t until the final few minutes of the first half of the game that the Gladiators would begin to increase their lead. With multiple Gladiators contributing, the teams would take a 9-point into the half.
The score at the half was 46 – 37 to the Caledonia Gladiators.
Manchester Basketball were able to cut the Gladiators lead by two in the third quarter action. A tough third quarter, with both teams firing on all fronts, showing how evenly matched they were. The Gladiators continued to share the ball throughout the quarter, with five Gladiators putting up 20 points between them to keep their lead heading into the final quarter of action, 10 minutes away from advancing to the Semi-Final. The score heading into the final quarter was 66 – 59, with the Gladiators up by 7 points.
Turning up the intensity, the Gladiator would ensure victory, taking a 6-point win in the final quarter to win the game by 13! Manchester would fight their way back and take their first lead of the game since the first quarter within the two minutes of the final quarter. The Gladiators called timeout after a clutch three pointer by Maura Fitzpatrick of Manchester. With the Gladiators refocused on the game, they retook their lead and never looked back. After the timeout, the Gladiators went on a 7-point unanswered run. With momentum back in their favour, the Gladiators took a double-digit lead with 4 minutes left of the quarter final. Despite fighting hard and showing their heart, Manchester would be unable to get back into the game, and with the Gladiators increasing their defence and hitting their free-throws, would find themselves down by 13-points and out of the Play-offs.
The Caledonia Gladiators advance to the Semi-Final of the SLB Play-offs after beating Manchester 90 – 77 at Playsport.
Today’s MVP was Kat Tudor:
