By ADEM SARICAOGLU
MELTON was crowned the undisputed king of Men’s Division Two Big V basketball on Saturday night.
The Thoroughbreds, who blitzed the division to win their last 18 games of the year, saved their best for last in front of a packed house at Melton Indoor Recreation Centre, beating the Keilor Thunder 75-60 in game two of their grand final series to claim the title.
Coach Grant Spencer told Star on Sunday he had not yet sat back and reflected on what was a remarkable achievement, but did provide a little bit of insight into the post-game vibe within the team’s inner sanctum.
“We had a bit of a chat as a group last night, and we all agreed that 18 wins in a row is a fantastic effort,” Spencer said.
“It’s really hard to be able to maintain consistency in anything you do, and for us to be able to play at such a high level and maintain that high level just shows how good, as a group, we’ve stuck together.
“We’ve been disciplined in the way we’ve gone about thing, and we all had the one goal, which was to win a championship, so we’ve been able to achieve it and I think the guys are really impressed and happy about the outcome.”
The result was never really in doubt as the Thoroughbreds went into the half-time break 19 points up, before holding steady in the second half to finish up 15-point winners, and more importantly, champions.
Spencer admitted the party may have started early during the last quarter.
“We were able to get ourselves a comfortable lead by half time, so from that point it was just a matter of being able to maintain it,” Spencer said.
“Coming into the last quarter in the last five or six minutes, we sort of knew we had it and probably started the celebrations a little early.
“The crowd got into it again and then obviously we got over the line and all the kids came running onto the court and congratulated all the players.
“It was a great thing for the guys, a great thing for the club and definitely the Melton basketball community.
“Everyone got involved throughout the year and everyone got their just reward last night.”
At this stage, Michael McCallum is the only Thoroughbred to confirm his retirement, while Spencer himself will weigh up his options before deciding if he’ll stay on board in Melton in 2014.
