PAKENHAM Warriors started the Victorian junior basketball season on a high note last Friday evening with three wins and a tie
The Warriors program continues to expand with a second men’s team added to the senior teams.
WOMEN’S MMBL
The team welcomed back coach Jack Vanstone after a stint with the men’s squad.
This week was the third game of the winter season against Sunbury and the Warriors were sluggish at the start as they tried to run their offence and trailed 6 to 17 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw improvement. Both sides scored nine points in the third quarter and the Warriors outscored Sunbury 12 points to 10 to go into the last quarter trailing 27 to 36.
The last quarter saw Sunbury go away to an easy win.
Final scores: Pakenham 37 lost to Sunbury 58.
Top scorers for Pakenham were Gemma Craven (10), Laura Craven (8) and Jodie Bird (8).
This season the women are rotating two from the under16 squad to bolster their numbers and they are equipping themselves well.
UNDER 18 BOYS
Playing Hawthorn, the Warriors started slowly as Magic made the early running.
Justin Smaluch (14 points) kept the Warriors in touch.
Guard Justin Page (eight points) drove hard at the basket as the Warriors got the score back to 2422 on the back of his successful throws from the line two minutes from halftime.
The Magic made the Warriors pay for some sloppy play before halftime to be ahead 3224.
In the second half the Warriors were still turning over the ball and facing a 10point deficit.
The lead was slowly reduced as Steve Luxford made a threepointer and Tom Lorimer made a layup.
Luke Fortune hit all net on a long bomb and the momentum had swung the Warriors’ way as Nick Fromhold finished off a strong play, while Nathan Page continued to star, driving at the basket to get the Warriors to within two points with a minute to play.
The Magic played for time, until Justin Smaluch made a great intercept with 4.5 seconds on the clock for Justin Page to make the final basket to tie the game 50 points all.
UNDER 16 GIRLS GOLD
Playing Southern Peninsula on Friday night, there was nothing between the teams by halftime with the Warriors trailing seven points to the Sharks eight.
The Warriors were unable to shake the Sharks, giving them way too much space to make their plays.
With the Warriors trailing they applied more pressure at the end of the game and were able to bridge the gap by forcing the turnovers and scoring.
Hannah Morgan and JamieLee finished with seven points each.
In what was a close finish, final scores were Warriors 23 defeated Southern Peninsula 21.
UNDER 16 GIRLS BLUE
The Warriors played Warrandyte and hit the court running to lead 2215 at halftime.
In a solid start to the season the Warriors won 3631.
UNDER 16 BOYS
For the first game of the year, the Warriors took on the Dandenong Rangers at home last Friday.
Jason Budge was inspirational under the ring, showing strength and agility in a bestoncourt performance.
Guards James Flannery, Brendan Gillen and Jackson Fromhold kept the ball coming into the forwards, while James Dobson and Dale O’Callaghan showed brilliance in their rebounding efforts.
Daniel Jeavons showed he could do it at both ends with some excellent rebounds and pinpoint shooting.
In an excellent game, the Warriors went down by two points.
UNDER 14 GIRLS
The Warriors travelled to Sandringham for the first game of the season against the Sabres and ran the ball well, but were unable to capitalise on the scoreboard, missing many easy layups.
Sandringham had problems getting to the basket due to the tight defence applied by the Warriors that in turn led to frequent fastbreak attempts, many of which the Sabres fouled on
However the Warriors were not able to turn these into points on the scoreboard.
In the second half the Sabres lifted their intensity and caused the Warriors to fumble their passes and slowly eat into their ninepoint lead.
With only minutes to go, the Sabres tied the game before the Warriors steadied and played out the game to win by two points.
This week Pakenham Basketball Association will donate $1 to the Royal Children’s Hospital appeal for every freethrow made.
UNDER 14 BOYS
The Warriors started well against Nunawading with six points from Thomas West.
Lewis Vigliarolo (four points) worked both ends of the court with some great defensive pressure, as did Sean Armstrong (four points), as the Spectres were up 1914 by halftime.
The second half was tight with only four points in it, as the Warriors fought hard to bridge the gap, with Adam Young and Ashley Beck chipping in for two points each.
Lewis fought hard to add three points, while Thomas West hit 11 points for the game as the Warriors went down 3326.
