IT WAS a quiet week for the Warriors as the senior teams had the week off before the second half the winter season. In the junior matches the Under 20 Men paid for poor concentration while the Under 16 Boys Blue fell in against the bottom side and the Under 14 Girls had a great first half to set up a good win.
UNDER 20 MEN
The Warriors looked to have the game in hand at halftime against the winless Craigieburn, being up 3321 at halftime. Tim Hendrikx (21 points) looked set to dominate the game while Shane Hart and Jamie Stow were contributing to the score. In the second half the visitors quickly chased down the Warriors’ halftime lead as the game became an arm wrestle. With five seconds to go the scores were 50all before the Warriors went down narrowly after a buzzerbeating Craigieburn threepointer.
UNDER 16 GIRLS BLUE
Playing McKinnon at home, who they drew with in their last encounter. Both teams were off to a slow start, taking some time to defrost. The first half was highfouling and lowscoring for both teams, with the Warriors giving the Cougars too much room for easy scoring. At halftime Pakenham trailed McKinnon 813.
As has happened in the past few games the side showed more intensity in the second half, but by this stage it was hard to bridge the gap. The last few minutes proved the Warriors’ best effort for the game, but they were unable to catch McKinnon and went down 2024.
UNDER 16 BOYS BLUE
Playing at Sherbrooke, the Warriors were well ahead 187 at halftime. Despite not playing well, the Warriors held a good lead in the second half before a blitz by the Suns produced 10 unanswered points, forcing the Warriors to dig deep and hang on. Protecting the ball in the final minutes, the Warriors were able to hang on 3534 in an unconvincing display.
UNDER 14 GIRLS
Pakenham played Sherbrooke at home missing two of its starting five. Pakenham made early use of the ball and through uptempo defensive pressure jumped to an early 10point lead, Stephanie Dicker and Mikaela Foy finding the basket for easy layups. Halfway through the first half Foy was in foul trouble and had to be benched but this did not slow the Warriors down and they went in at halftime comfortable 266 leaders.
In the second half, with the lead they had generated, the Warriors were able to concentrate on their offence and take the game, all players getting on the score sheet. Pakenham won 4120 and was in second place before taking on top side Cranbourne.
UNDER 14 BOYS
The Warriors travelled to Eltham for a highpressure match with Sean Armstrong and Joey Sweeney (six points) pulling down some strong rebounds and Ashley Beck making his presence felt late in the first half. At halftime Eltham 18 led the Warriors 13.
The Warriors began the second half with good defence, shutting down Eltham’s main route to score. Brendan Gillen (12 points) contributed eight for the half. Joey Sweeney was on the fast break and scored four for the half. Late in the half, with two injured players on the bench, Armstrong and Gillen both fouled out. Each of the Warriors scored points in a good team effort, but they went down 2934.
