By Jonty Ralphsmith
Pakenham’s women will be left to rue missed opportunities in the second half as a more efficient Bulleen team won 73-65.
The Warriors conceded 15 of the first 17 points of the third quarter as Bulleen opened up a lead, punishing the hosts for missing their shots at Cardinia Life.
Not until both teams made a series of substitutions were Pakenham able to get a semblance of momentum back, scoring six important points to close out the third quarter, to close to within two at the last break.
But Pakenham’s shooting woes continued in the fourth, missing gettable opportunities in the first four minutes as Bulleen got out to a seven point lead.
Breanna McKenzie, who had important moments at both ends, broke the drought with a crucial three to cut the margin to four and keep her team in the contest.
McKenzie and Haille Nickerson each scored from subsequent opportunities, but Bulleen did well to keep Pakenham at arm’s length.
Just as a tight finish looked there for the taking for the trailing Warriors, Keli Romas, who put 10 points away in the first quarter, made consecutive threes to just about seal the result.
Earlier, Pakenham’s shooting enabled them to get the jump on Bulleen, the Warriors making all six of their field goal attempts to take an early 13-4 lead before the visitors called a timeout.
A McKenzie three from the corner highlighted the Warriors’ early opportunism, while Briahna Whatman was also important early, with four points, three defensive rebounds and two assists in the first four minutes of the game.
The result has the women sixth at 5-6 ahead of the King’s Birthday bye.
Meanwhile, the men sit fifth at 6-4 following an 83-75 loss to Western Port.
Pakenham was in the contest until very late in the contest, with a Ned Weideman three with 26 seconds remaining drawing them to within four, before Western Port put away all four of their freethrow opportunities.
