mmg.com.au

Shepparton Gators will show faith in its current crop of players when it embarks on a return to Big V next month.

Fresh from sealing consecutive Country Basketball League north-east titles, the Gators will contest the state final this weekend, before heading to Frankston to contest the pre-season Big V Tournament on March 9.

Gators head coach Steve Nioa said the team would remain largely unchanged when it hosted Casey Cavaliers at Shepparton Sports Stadium in round one of Victoria’s premier senior basketball competition one week later.

‘‘We look like getting pretty much the same guys and it looks like there are a couple of guys from Wodonga that are pretty keen to come over and play with us as well,’’ Nioa said.

‘‘We’re really just using CBL as a step from Junior Gators into senior competition and then obviously they graduate through the CBL program into Big V.’’

Unfortunately, the Gators have to move forward without talented guards Matt Bartlett and Zaine Allen.

Allen will play in a higher division in Melbourne, while Bartlett, who was most valuable player in Saturday’s CBL north-east final, has returned to Bendigo Braves for the upcoming SEABL season.

Nioa will return to the helm to allow CBL co-coaches Jack Threlfall and Shannon Ralph to concentrate on playing and he said he couldn’t wait to get started.

‘‘I’ve sort of been missing it a little bit and as it came to finals I was slowly getting closer and closer to it, freeing them up to be able to play more,’’ he said.

‘‘I’m really excited about Big V, coming away from a successful CBL season helps out as well and hopefully because of that we get a lot of local support behind us.

‘‘We had a huge amount of support at the grand final because of the junior tournament and then obviously a bit of success throughout with the boys (under-16 division one team) and the girls (under-18 division one team) winning.

‘‘Our crowd was fantastic and I know my junior team that I coached you could swear they had just won the CBL grand final on the Saturday night, they were just as excited.’’