Warriors outgunned

THE Pakenham Warriors have been dealt a double-blow, losing two Big V games to McKinnon and Camberwell over the weekend.
Despite a gutsy performance on Saturday, the Warriors were outclassed 86-63 by home side, McKinnon Cougars.
The following day the energy-sapped Warriors were exposed in the first quarter, eventually going down to the Camberwell Dragons 77-63 at Cardinia Life.
The odds were stacked against the Warriors on Saturday when they travelled to McKinnon to take on a side led by ex NBL players Marcuss Timmons and seven-foot Axel Dench.
The Warriors surprised the Cougars to score the first six points in an up-tempo game before they gave up the lead late in the quarter.
In a tough second quarter, the teams went basket for basket until the Cougars gained the ascendancy and got a run on to lead at the major break 37 to 30.
In the last quarter the Warriors tried all they could but were unable to match it with the Cougars as they rolled to a 23-point victory.
Top scorers for the Warriors were Alistair Grainger and Sandro Santo with 12.
On Sunday, Pakenham had to take on a much taller Camberwell and may have been suffering from the effort from the previous day as the Dragons took complete control in the first quarter.
The Warriors were held scoreless until the six-minute mark when the Dragons had already piled on 13 points.
Leading 32 to eight into the second quarter, the Warriors upped the tempo and with nothing to lose, attacked the ball and the hoop taking the quarter 22 to 16.
The third quarter again saw the Dragons kick away to a 23-point lead before the Warriors dragged it back to 16 points and win their second quarter of the day.
With both teams tiring as the tempo remained high, the Dragons did all they could to bury the Warriors but the boys would not lie down and won their third quarter of the match 15 to 13.
But the first quarter was their downfall as the Dragons went out winners 77 to 63.
Best players for Pakenham were Calvin Rees, who had 12 points and had more than his share of boards, Leon Stapley with 10 points, Daniel Jeavons and Alistair Grainger with eight points.
The boys are playing some exciting basketball and with another win just around the corner, they would love to see more supporters at the games to help them over the line.