By Jonty Ralphsmith
Pakenham got over the top of Hume by three points in a tight game at Broadmeadows.
A strong finish by Pakenham fuelled the 68-65 result, as the Warriors maintained the lead throughout the fourth quarter despite the hosts coming hard.
With the Warriors having been in that position so often this season, there was an extra layer of significance in their capacity to close it out.
Pakenham have won three of its last five tight games after finishing games off had been an Achilles heel at the start of the season.
The home team got the jump early, leading 11-2 midway through the first quarter, before Pakenham took a timeout and were then able to get themselves back into the contest, levelling it up at 15-15 late in that quarter.
For the most part thereafter, the Warriors defended strongly which opened up the opportunity to rebound, run and gun.
The route to victory from the timeout until midway through the last quarter was to back themselves and play with pace.
Despite her numbers, Sam Romanowski played a key role, particularly when Pakenham was looking to play with tempo in the last quarter.
Haille Nickerson scored 29 points while Ebony Sans played a strong defensive game.
It’s the second victory Pakenham has over Hume this season, after beating them by seven points last month.
The men, on the other hand, were pipped late by Collingwood.
They led by seven points at three-quarter-time but a 16-points-to-seven last quarter saw them overrun, despite 15 points and five rebounds to Matt Berkec.
In the youth league men, Kaleb Beveridge put forward a monster performance with 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a 103-86 victory over a strong Western Port.
The youth league women had a strong home win on Saturday night over Collingwood.
Forced to claw their way from behind after a slow start, Pakenham hit the lead for the first time in the second quarter and had the scoreboard advantage for most of the remainder of the night.
Collingwood came at them late, but Pakenham were able to hold them off.
