By RUSSELL BENNETT
THERE’S never a dull moment when it comes to the Pakenham Warriors.
In a year that had already produced a combination of dizzying highs and disappointing lows came two junior championships last Thursday – the under-16 girls and the under-18 boys – in the Victorian Junior Basketball League.
The young Warriors boys were led by departing Big V coach Ryan Rogers and started the season as even lower than rank underdogs.
“We saved our best for last, that’s for sure,” Rogers told the Gazette.
Pakenham defeated Altona 71-54 after previously losing to it by four points earlier in the finals series.
The two sides played in the first game of the year with the Warriors on the receiving end of a 20-point thrashing but recovered to win at home in their second meeting – a sign of things to come for the decider.
Rogers admitted it was a strange feeling knowing his last involvement with the Warriors organisation ended with a championship.
“It was just awesome,” he said.
“The guys were really up for the game and they just wanted to win to finish a tough year on a high.
“Considering which division more than 50 per cent of the team played in last year, it was incredible.
“There were some kids who went up eight divisions and an age group in the space of 12 months.”
Rogers said he didn’t make any roster decisions based on players he already knew.
The list was based purely on the performance of players during tryouts.
“I just picked nine guys for the squad and it just happened to be that some of them were playing in the under-16 second and third team last year,” he said.
The Warriors VJBL champions astonishingly started their year with a ranking of 54 and had to keep winning to even make the VJL 1 competition.
The Warriors’ girls defeated Latrobe City 2 by one point in a nail-biting finish to claim the VJL 4 title, 27-26.
