By Justin Schwarze
An absolutely stunning late comeback saw the Pakenham Warriors Championship Women get one of the most memorable wins in recent history, taking down Bulleen in overtime on Saturday.
The win improves Pakenham to 3-0 this season, an outstanding start with three quality wins.
Throughout the game, not much could separate the two sides, with the Warriors leading by just four at the main break.
The Boomers at home rallied in the third, taking the quarter 25-17 to establish a four point lead of their own entering the final frame.
In the fourth, superstar Grace Graham went supernova, dragging Pakenham back within striking distance that started with her nailing a three just 10 seconds into the period.
From there, it was back and forth, with both teams throwing haymakers trying to land the knockout punch.
After Graham hit her second shot from downtown with just a tick over five minutes to go to bring the visitors within one, Bulleen responded with what seemed would be a game-winning run.
A penetrating drive from Amy Baum off a screen forced the Warriors to rotate, so Baum fired a swing pass to the corner to an open Keira Lindemans, who swung the extra pass to Sarae Beveridge who knocked down a massive triple.
Following a good defensive possession, Keli Romas blew by her opponent and drew free throws on her drive to the rim.
Romas calmly sank both to extend the Boomers’ lead to six with under four minutes to play.
The next few minutes were a stalemate, with both sides failing to score until Graham broke the drought by connecting on a baseline jumper.
On the other end, Abbey-Lee Wood denied Romas on her shot, wrestling for the ball and the possession arrow awarded the ball back to Pakenham.
Skye Rees then received an entry pass, spun baseline and drew contact to make her way to the line for a pair of free throws.
Rees knocked both down, bringing the score to 67-69 in favour of Bulleen.
The Boomers couldn’t score and seemed rattled when Romas foolishly reached in and fouled Graham away from the basket while the Warriors were in the bonus.
With under a minute remaining, Graham went 2/2 from the line to tie things up.
Out of the timeout, Beveridge couldn’t convert on her runner, and Pakenham had a chance to steal the game.
Graham got to her spot but her pull up was short, but in the fight for the rebound Rees came up with it.
She kicked it back out for a great look for Graham for three, but it bounced off the front rim and Bulleen didn’t get up a good shot before time expired.
In overtime, clutch buckets from Kailey Neave and Wood gave the Warriors a two point advantage.
Baum broke free for a layup to tie it up, before Neave was fouled and drilled both free throws.
With less than two minutes to go and the shot clock winding down, Briahna Whatman quickly stepped into a jump shot from the elbow off a screen from Rees, and Whatman swished it home for a huge, gutsy shot.
The shot gave Pakenham a four point buffer, but the hosts weren’t done.
The Boomers responded right back with a textbook pick and roll action, as Baum found Maddison Zugna cutting to the rim for a layup.
After that, Neave couldn’t connect on her shot, which was followed by a misfire from Romas from three.
Zugna then stood tall to block Wood’s shot, and the rebound was secured by Bulleen with a chance to tie with 20 seconds on the clock.
Baum got to the rim, went up and under but her layup hit front iron and Whatman hauled in the board.
Her two free throws after a Boomers intentional foul was the dagger, and somehow Pakenham had walked away with a miraculous win, 79-75.
“I’m extremely proud, I think our bench energy was amazing, they really helped keep our girls going, I know a lot of them were tired or exhausted after playing such a grind but they dug deep and they executed offense and they stuck to what was working,” head coach Elli Gibson said of the win.
“I think it provides the group with belief and confidence that if we don’t get rattled and we stick to our gameplan we can grind out a game even if we are down.
“We knew that it was going to be a grind, we needed to rely on our team defence playing together and make sure we’re all on the same page offensively and defensively.
“This result just gives them a lot of confidence and belief in our group that if we are down we can find a way in a short period of time to turn it around.”
Graham has been a revelation as a recruit, scoring 30 points and grabbing four rebounds in the win.
She currently leads the league in scoring, averaging 23 points per game.
“Grace was switched on from the start, she made some early buckets but she also made some late in the fourth quarter and OT to help us win the game,” Gibson said.
“She’s just someone who puts in the work outside of training so when it comes to game time she can rely on the work that she’s done and she’s confident in her shot.”
Rees and Wood were new signings announced last week, with the club inking deals with the duo just before the season started.
Rees was massive in her Warriors debut, posting a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Pakenham will host Warrandyte in round 3.
It was a tough weekend for the rest of the Warriors, with the Youth League Men going down in both of their double-header fixtures.
After starting the season scorching hot, Pakenham have lost three in a row, with Saturday’s 73-78 loss to Ringwood at Cardinia Life frustrating.
The Warriors will rue their loss to Blackburn even more on Sunday, giving up a 12 point fourth quarter advantage and losing the quarter 20-33 to go down by four points, 87-91.
Pakenham had five players in double figures, including Youth League One Player of the Month Kaleb Beveridge who had a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds.
The Youth Championship Women also dropped both in their home double-header, 69-87 to Diamond Valley and 51-74 to local rivals Casey.
The Youth Men face Camberwell at home in round 5, the Youth Women host Altona and the Championship Men return to action in a double-header, with Camberwell coming to town Saturday and then visiting Blackburn on Sunday.
