A top-two finish is well and truly in sight for the Pakenham Warriors Youth Men as the team prepares to face a surging Ballarat side in the run home for finals.
Earlier in the season, Pakenham routed the Miners on their home floor 73-107, but the team has featured a drastically different outfit since then.
Star wing Will Hynes returned from college basketball in the US recently and Ballarat has looked like a completely new team with him.
Four wins on the trot leading into the Warriors matchup has propelled the Miners into the top four and a postseason spot.
In the nine games he’s played, Hynes has led the league in scoring at over 20 points per game, earning Youth League One Player of the Month for June in the process.
“He’s the leading scorer and reigning player of the month, so he gets a real focal point in our scout and our defensive efforts,” Pakenham head coach Braden Venning said of Hynes.
“Ballarat are a very solid team, they’ve got multiple guys that have NBL1 experience in there.
“It’s not just one guy we need to stop, we need to stop everyone.
“They have a lot of really good role players, like Jack Hexter is shooting over 48 percent from three.”
The Warriors have built their success this season on their disruptive and aggressive defence.
The ability to turn that into offence will prove to be crucial in knocking off the in-form team of the competition with deadly weapons.
“It’s a whole team effort there,” Venning noted of what it will take.
“It will be really good, it will show where we’re at and just provide another really good challenge for us.”
