It’s four on the trot for the Pakenham Warriors Men in the Country Basketball League (CBL) as Pakenham crushed Traralgon 113-89 at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
The T-Birds came out swinging to open the contest, led by an offensive flurry by Big V-listed Kody Tibballs.
Tibballs poured in seven points in the first frame as the hosts nabbed a 27-22 advantage at the first break.
Tibballs was able to spring free for a basket and knock down a pair of free throws early in the second to push Traralgon to a seven-point buffer before the Warriors responded with an avalanche.
A game-breaking 33-6 run to end the term completely flipped the contest and quickly turned a seven-point deficit into a 20-point lead at the main intermission.
Four Callum McNiff buckets spearheaded the run, leading his side to turning the momentum on its head.
Another strong period out of halftime from Pakenham put the game away completely as the Warriors outscored the T-Birds 31-18 in the quarter.
Matt Berkec went to work in the fourth with a pair of scores to see out the huge result on the road.
“It was an interesting first quarter, but we battled through the adversity,” Pakenham head coach Braden Venning said.
“The young guys stepped up.
“We made some adjustments at the quarter’s end and we focused on the little things like finishing possessions on defensive rebounds or steals and that just really opened it up.
“Once we put some pace on it we just ran them into the ground.
“We started denying Kody Tibballs, who had a really dominant first quarter, we kind of took him out of it in the second.
“He was initiating all their offence, so we took him out of that and it really slowed all their momentum.
“We forced them into contested shots and we got the board and ran out in transition and got easy points.”
McNiff finished with a game-high 29 points, following his 23-point performance last week.
McNiff also connected on four three-pointers in the resounding victory.
“He’s had to step up with Cody Fredrickson out of the lineup,” Venning said of McNiff.
“He’s been getting a bit more ball use, but he’s fantastic.
“He’s so hard to guard getting downhill because he’s a bigger body and he can finish at the rim.”
The Warriors are now filled with confidence, being 4-0 with the toughest part of their schedule in the books.
Venning highlighted one key area as the difference maker so far in the campaign.
“We’ve played all three finalists from last year in the first four games,” he said.
“The difference between our program compared to others is depth.
“We can put anyone from seven through 12 out there and our bench players can compete with other teams’ starters.
“When we focus on the one percenters and we lock in on defence, great things will happen for us.”
The Pakenham Women got back into the winner’s column with a comfortable 93-67 triumph over Traralgon.
The Warriors outscored the T-Birds by double figures in both quarters in the first half, leading to a commanding 57-31 advantage they never relinquished.
Chelsea Schreuder continues to flourish offensively in a more on-ball role as she dropped 28 points.
Shanelle Kingston provided 14 points and Hayley Letts added 12.
After four games, Pakenham is 2-2 and currently sits fifth.
Both outfits have a bye in round five.
