Pakenham’s ascension to champions of Youth League One was impressively rapid.
After coming up short in the big dance in 2024 in Youth League Two, the Warriors earned a spot in the qualification series to potentially earn a berth in a higher tier.
Braden Venning’s men won the qualification series in February, reaching the next flight of Big V basketball and creating a new challenge.
The season began on an incredible note, with Pakenham sending a message to the new competition landscape by winning its first three games with a point differential of plus-154.
Those wins included a 60-point thrashing of Westgate at its flag unveiling ceremony, a sign that the Warriors were not to be messed with in 2025.
The first hurdle came following that, with Ethan Small going down with a torn ACL and the team dropping its next three games.
But from there, different players emerged and the depth of the squad paired with Venning’s trust in his guys boosted Pakenham to win 14 of its next 16 games.
“We had lots of early challenges,” coach Venning said.
“Winning three then losing three, losing a guy like Ethan who has a high IQ.
“We learned a lot from the last year.
“Nothing massively changed but it lit a fire under the boys and made me a better coach.
“There’s no way in hell they were going to taste defeat again, we left no stone unturned.
“All the hours my coaching staff and players have put in, to see it pay off, especially after last year’s heartbreak, stepping up a division and having the same success and going one better is even better given it’s against better players, better coaches.
“To be part of Big V’s first championship winning team for Pakenham is something that will always be remembered, so I’m ecstatic.”
A dominant finals run ensued, beating Camberwell by 16 in the elimination final before dominating McKinnon by 26 and knocking off Ballarat by 22 in the grand final.
Aaron Small, Mitch Zeunert, Kaleb Beveridge and Mason Fraser were all named finalists for All Star Five, with Small also a finalist for Youth League One defensive player of the year.
Venning was also nominated as a finalist for coach of the year for the division, capping off a brilliant campaign.
GRAND FINAL GLORY
A dominant defensive effort aided Pakenham to hang its first ever Big V Championship banner in the rafters of Cardinia Life.
In the biggest game of the season, the Warriors stuck to their roots and changed nothing, feeding back into their DNA of defensive disruption and high pressure to knock off Ballarat.
The Miners trailed by just two at quarter time despite shooting the ball poorly, but the subpar shooting continued and high turnover rates in the second saw Pakenham take advantage and the margin ballooned to 22 at the half.
Ballarat seemed to wrestle back some momentum in front of a hostile crowd late in the third, boosted by Will Hynes, cutting the deficit to 14 after Jack Hexter capitalised on a Pakenham turnover.
Joseph Buckle pulled up and cashed out from deep early in the fourth to have the difference at 12, but timely shot making and a tightened mindset saw the Miners go scoreless over the next four minutes.
By that time, some Mason Fraser excellence from beyond the arc had swelled the Warriors’ buffer to over 25; and the celebrations began.
Pakenham eclipsed the title with a 93-71 triumph, holding Ballarat to below 34 percent shooting while forcing 24 turnovers.
The visitors especially struggled from downtown, going just 9/38 from three-point range.
Fraser led the champions in scoring with 25, while Aaron Small scored 18, Kaleb Beveridge provided 10 and Jarred Small popped for 15 off the bench.
Pakenham caught fire from deep in the contest, shooting 12/25 for the game with Jarred Small and Fraser combined going 8/13.
Another highlight defensively was limiting the impact of dynamic duo Hynes and NBL1-listed Ethan Fiegert.
Hynes got going in the second half, finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds and nine steals, but he shot below 50 percent from the field and recorded just one assist.
Fiegert was especially quiet, knocking down his first and only bucket very late in the third to end the night with just five points on 1/9 shooting.
“We wanted to keep Hynes and Fiegert out of it,” coach Braden Venning said.
“Hynes got away in the second half but he only had one assist for the game which was huge.
“We focused on little things like disrupting opponents and having confidence that while we work hard to stop them, they have to stop us, so good luck when we come out and shoot 48.5 per cent from three.”
MASON’S MOMENT
Forty-four seconds of Mason Fraser magic broke the Pakenham curse and secured the Youth League 1 chip.
With 4:23 remaining, the grand final tension belied the relatively comfortable 16-point margin as Ballarat pressed with nothing to lose.
Enter Fraser, whose poise and confidence aroused teammates and arose the full house.
He bucketed a trio of threes in 44 seconds to extend the margin to an insurmountable 25 points, sending the crowd into raptures.
“When I saw the first one, I thought ‘that’s beautiful execution through their press’ then he immediately got a steal and I saw it happening I was like ’he’s gonna pull up on this one’ because that’s the confidence we have in him to do those things,” Venning said.
“When you have a guy like Mason, he has the ultimate green light so while it may not be the most fantastic shot you can create, it’s some of the most open shots you’ll get.”
Prior to the threes, Fraser got a driving layup to extend the margin from 14 to 16 points, an important stabiliser against the momentum, which laid the foundation for what followed.
“It was amazing,” Fraser said.
“The crowd really helped and my teammates did too.
“They pushed me all year and to get the nerves out in this game and hit some shots helped me ease into the game and I took it all in.”
When he got a steal and a fast break layup in the third, it felt like Pakenham had broken Ballarat – the margin, given the Miners’ offensive impotency to that point, felt too great.
But Ballarat got within 12 in the last quarter before Fraser sealed it, those crucial points taking him to a team-high 25 points to complement brave defending which wasn’t reflected in the box score, and was a big reason Ballarat was kept to just eight second quarter points.
“His defence was changing the game,” Venning said.
“He was making (Ky) Swards and (Joseph) Buckle uncomfortable every time they were on the court.
“He plays really smart, physical defence and he disrupted a lot of their offence.”
It came after a brilliant semi-final performance in a season where he’s grown arguably more than any other Warrior in 2025 to lead the league in threes.
Having made the step up to Division 1 seamlessly and earned more minutes, Fraser’s progress has mirrored the team’s which has them just one qualification series win away from Youth League Championship Division.
“I said to him, that’s the first time I’ve seen him smile on a basketball court,” captain Kaleb Beveridge said.
“He’s a serious guy and works so hard so it was so cool to see him get that moment.”
