By JARROD POTTER
BOUNCING back after a disappointing loss to Western Port, Pakenham seized its chances to snare a 96-87 win over Melton.
Looking for their second win, the Warriors were beaten to the punch by the Thoroughbreds early – as Melton’s Jeff Crowe (26 points) shot the home side into prime position.
Pakenham recovered to reduce the burgeoning margin – which ballooned out to nine points early in the second quarter – down to two by half time.
The Warriors’ reinvigoration came from the usual suspects – captain James Topp (29 points, seven rebounds) was phenomenal in the second half in tandem with point guard Jay Ferriere (16 points, eight rebounds) who together seized control back from Melton’s defenders.
Upping their scoring rate proved crucial as well for the visitors, with Pakenham going from 14/35 before half time to 16/27 down the stretch.
Finding themselves down on rebounds, down on field goal attempts and down on assists didn’t seem to matter for Pakenham – who ground out the victory on the back of a pair of Daniel Stow long-range threes.
Jeff Reid (14 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Bill Winder (13 points, five rebounds) also made their presence known in the scorebook.
Pakenham coach Ryan Rogers said the Warriors perseverance proved the difference.
“Just the way that we continued to chip away,” Rogers said.
“Second half made some adjustments – we were moving the ball a lot better hitting at 60 per cent for second half and our shot selection was extremely good.”
The second-half tempo change was orchestrated by Ferriere according to Rogers, with the guard setting the pace and forcing Melton to play into Pakenham’s plans.
“Jay Ferriere was in his best couple we’ve seen from them,” Rogers said.
“Overall it wasn’t about points – he controlled the tempo and it was how he dictated the tempo and even in the fourth quarter when they put extended pressure up the court.
“From the second quarter onwards we were able to take control and use our size advantage – even though we didn’t win the rebound count, our size advantage gave us really good looks around the basket that we finished off.”
Pakenham moves into fourth on the Big V Division Two ladder and heads into their double-header weekend – facing Maccabi on Saturday at home and Keilor away on Sunday – with an unchanged roster, which Rogers believes is a crucial difference for the injury plagued Warriors.
“I guess this week we’ll have a settled line-up – same group of 12 who played the last weekend which is a huge plus for us,” Rogers said.
“Maccabi we’ve seen them a couple of times already and we’re well prepared for what they’ll bring and I think the boys really turned the corner on Saturday with our extra effort.”
Tipoff on Saturday is 5pm at Cardinia Life.
