By Jonty Ralphsmith
It was a forgettable weekend for the Pakenham Warriors.
The men’s side went down 1-0 in their grand final playoff series against Gippsland, and the youth league succumbed to a 2-0 defeat from Keysborough in their big dance.
The division two men’s side went down by 11 points at Cardinia Life on Saturday night.
Regrettably, it is the only home fixture Pakenham have in the playoffs, meaning Rob Roberts’ men will need to get two consecutive wins on the road to taste the ultimate success this weekend.
It was all square at halftime, before Gippsland exploded in the third quarter.
Gippsland have a high-scoring reputation and landing their shots, which is what they did in the third quarter, sinking 32 points and keeping Pakenham to 18.
Keeping Gippsland to 84 points for the game was a fair effort, particularly given that onslaught, but it was ultimately in vain.
“We thought we had the right game-plan and for three and a half quarters it was right, but we had a six-minute period in the third which ended up being the difference in the game,” Roberts said.
“The fact we did keep them to a pretty low score means we just have some moves we need to make offensively to make sure we stay in the game.”
In the last 2:39 of the third quarter, the margin blew from five points to 14 points as the visitors scored 15 points in that period.
Pakenham got on a roll in the final quarter with 25 points, but could not stem Gippsland’s attack and close the significant three-quarter-time margin.
“We still had the energy and our guys were fit, there is no doubt about it, and I probably could have made some more moves in the last quarter, but we were looking for offence rather than defence.
“Going deep into the game it would have been handy to have someone else there and I think it showed we were probably the fitter team, it was just hard to make up the difference.
“It’s hard to keep most teams motivated when you’re 21 points down but not this one.
“To keep fighting and lose by 11 was a good comeback.
“One thing I repeat to them is 15 up or 15 down, we run (the game) out.”
Usual suspects Joshua Dow (19 points, six rebounds) and Joe Davis (20 points, 11 rebounds) played their part as Pakenham backed their best six men for the majority of the contest.
Trent Lee’s 10 points, six rebounds and four assists spread the load, pleasing the coach.
An injury to Elias Kafrouni limited him to fewer than six minutes but the club is optimistic he will return.
Roberts encouraged fans to get down to Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night at 7pm to support, after about 750 people packed into Cardinia Life last week.
Meanwhile, the Warriors youth men’s needed to win on Saturday night at Keysborough to send the playoff series to a decider the following day after losing the previous weekend.
A 14-point Keysborough win was set up by a 26-16 second quarter.
Despite leading narrowly at quarter time, Pakenham never seriously threatened thereafter, briefly getting within six points in the last stanza but unable to close the margin any more.
Michael Johns produced his usual output with 22 points and Jackson Grey scored 16 points.
Johns was awarded league MVP on the night and Braden Venning was named coach of the year.
While that result ends the Warriors’ youth season on a sour note, it is expected the bulk of the squad will return to give the premiership another shake next season.
