The Pakenham Warriors Championship Women made the most of their trip down the eastern-Victorian coast as they routed Warrnambool 38-98 in a defensive clinic.
Pakenham put the clamps on from the opening tip, forcing the Mermaids into more turnovers than made field goals in the opening term.
This set the tone as the Warriors jumped to a 12-23 quarter time advantage.
The offence got humming in the second for the visitors, breaking the game wide open and extending the lead into a blowout.
A 34-point quarter from Pakenham had the score at 24-57 at halftime.
The Warriors could have easily taken the foot off the gas in the second half, but the defence remained tight and switched on, holding Warrnambool to just six third quarter points.
The fourth was more of the same as Pakenham continued its defensive dominance to again only allow a single-digit scoring quarter for the Mermaids, this time with eight.
Warrnambool shot a dismal 25 percent from the floor and just 15 percent from three for the game.
The hosts also recorded just 10 assists to 24 turnovers, an indication of how tough the Warriors made it on the ball handlers and how well Pakenham restricted their ball movement.
Abbey-Lee Wood is entering a fantastic stretch of form, once again providing good scoring production in limited minutes.
Wood finished with 15 points on 5/9 shooting with four steals in just 19 minutes.
Grace Graham’s prolific scoring was on full display as she posted 20 points while shooting 60 percent from the field to go along with four rebounds, five assists and a game-high plus-48.
Young guns Chelsea Schreuder and Kailey Neave put in excellent minutes off the bench, with Schreuder notching 12 points and Neave recording 15 points and five rebounds.
Still in second place, the Pakenham has a pivotal clash away at third-placed Sherbrooke this week with the Suns entering on a four-game win streak and getting the better of the Warriors in their last matchup.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEN
It’s been a period of change for the Championship Men with head coach Rob Roberts stepping down effective immediately last week.
Lead assistant Luke Curry will take the clipboard and fill the top position for the remainder of the season with finals well and truly still on the cards.
After Curry went 2-0 in the lead role last week, the Warriors suffered their first loss under his leadership to Camberwell 97-79 on Saturday.
The offence never truly got going and the rebound disparity was too much to overcome, as the Dragons went plus-13 on the glass.
Poor shooting nights from Steve Coffey and Cody Fredrickson didn’t help and Pakenham never got back in the game after trailing 34-20 at quarter time.
Ned Carr was the best offensive threat for the Warriors as he scored 26 points to pair with 14 rebounds and three blocks.
Camberwell got impressive numbers from Sean Conway with 34 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Pakenham now heads to Shepparton in a crucial matchup with the fifth-placed Gators that will have plenty of impact on the finals race.
YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN
Another tough night and learning opportunity came for the Youth Women over the weekend as the squad couldn’t keep up after quarter time and fell to Bulleen 99-71 on the road.
The Warriors narrowly led 17-18 at the first intermission before the Boomers got hot in the second and jumped in front to a lead they would never relinquish.
Ilma Hajdarovic further bolstered her terrific season so far as she posted figures of 20 points, nine rebounds and two assists on 9/12 shooting.
Stella O’Loughlin struggled with her shot but drew fouls and got to the line effectively to finish with 18 points and seven rebounds on 10/12 free throws.
YOUTH MEN
Braden Venning’s side seems to be getting hot at the right time after picking up yet another impressive win against a finals contender.
Pakenham travelled to Bulleen and edged out the Boomers 81-85.
Despite the game being close for the majority, the Warriors led for over 80 percent of the game, including never trailing in the second half.
Venning’s squad is deep but the victory was fuelled by two monster games from starters.
Aaron Small was timely offensively, knocking down 5/10 threes and 10/17 shots overall to come up huge with 27 points.
Mitch Zeunert’s meteoric ascension into one of the most important roles on the team has been a revelation for Pakenham as he was superb yet again with 23 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.
Zeunert shot 9/13 from the field and drilled 2/3 triples.
Kaleb Beveridge contributed his usual double-double effort as he had numbers of 13 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.
“To have guys step up was really pleasing, Aaron Small played a huge role,” head coach Venning said.
“With Bulleen throwing a lot of stuff at us, it was good, we saw some press late and we turned the ball over a couple of times but we were able to break through it.
“Mitch just continues to impress, he’s taking the right shots, he runs in transition and he was a monster on the boards.
“Bulleen offer something different to other teams in the league and put us in situations where we’re not always as comfortable so to get those runs and experience against different looks is really promising going into the finals.
“It gives our guys different looks that we need to prepare for for finals.”
The Warriors sit third in the table but continue to put pressure on the top-two, especially after McKinnon was upset on the road by a surging Ballarat on Sunday.
This week is one of the most important games of the season for Pakenham as the Warriors will head to Ringwood to take on the table-leading Hawks.
CURRY STEPS IN
Luke Curry will step in as the Championship Men head coach for the remainder of 2025 after Rob Roberts stepped down from the role last week.
Roberts has had a fantastic impact on Pakenham in his time as head coach, guiding the Warriors all the way from Division 2 to Championship in just three years.
Curry has been his long-standing assistant, with the club making the new appointment after a meeting with the playing group.
“It was a bit of a shock,” Venning said of Roberts’ decision.
“He’s done so much positive for the club, he’s really brought about a change in culture and professionalism within the club and it’s helped push our teams to higher divisions and higher ranks across the board.
“We wish him all the best on his future endeavours.”
Curry has started well in the new role, going 2-1 in his first three games at the helm.
The respect he’s got around the club made him an easy and seamless choice to take the reins.
“Luke’s a beautiful man, he’s just a really good fella,” Venning said of Curry.
“It’s a really good opportunity for him.
“He’s got two really good assistants stepping in as well with Mike Donovan and Paul Bannister.”
Roberts was contacted for comment.
