By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Warriors fell to local Big V basketball rivals, the Casey Cavaliers, by 16 points on Sunday, 83-67 – ending their play-off hopes.
The Warriors needed to win their final regular season game on the Cavs’ home floor, ‘The Fortress’, if they were to advance to the post-season.
But it was always going to be a tough ask, with the in-form Casey side vying with the highly-regarded Shepparton in the final round of the regular season for top spot in Division 2.
The Warriors started strong on Sunday, leading 22-21 after the first quarter, but trailed by four points at the half.
Their high-energy, fast-paced start to the game was a real early worry for Stewart Baird’s Cavs – pushing hard on fast breaks and finding ways into their passing lanes – but the composure of the home side shone through as the game progressed.
Crowds at Cranbourne basketball stadium are always electric when the Cavs face off with the Warriors, and Sunday was no different, but the home side’s impressive play on both ends – particularly late in the game – drowned out the noise from the Pakenham faithful.
The Warriors were slow out of the gates in the second half but were still within four points with just a minute left in the third quarter.
Yet seconds later, a Steve Michalski layup as time expired seemed to put the dagger right through the heart of the visitors.
Smelling blood, the Cavs pounced in the fourth – storming away late in the quarter off the back of strong shooting performances from Ash Szalek (12 points, 11 rebounds), Matt Witherden (16 points), and Matt Pebole (19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists).
For the Warriors, meanwhile, swingman Jim Viray (20 points and 8 rebounds) and centre Andrew Savige (18 points and 6 rebounds) were again consistent offensive threats but coach Ryan Rogers admitted the Cavs were “just too good”.
“The guys fought hard and we only had nine turnovers for the game, but they were too strong,” he said.
“We had lapses that really cost us.”
Looking back on the season as a whole, Rogers described it as a year of fighting through adversity.
“It was the weekend where we lost to both Coburg and Mornington that cost us badly,” he said.
“Everyone will have an opinion, comparing this season to last season given that we won more games but didn’t make the play-offs this time.
“Mentally it’s been really challenging but I really want to keep the core group together.”
Rogers said the Warriors this year possibly lacked that one extra player who excelled at creating his own shot.
And that man might well have been former all-star forward James Topp, who could yet return to the Pakenham setup in 2015.
“We missed someone else to depend on to get us out of sticky situations, but we had really good growth from the Pakenham juniors when they were exposed to elite basketball and had breakout performances from the likes of Hayden Davey, Jimmy Magrath, Sean Armstrong, Matt Darcy and Lee Belton,” Rogers said.
“The group was forced to be very resilient throughout the year and they want to stay together.”
