By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Warriors Big V basketball side held their inaugural awards gala on Saturday night in the packed function room of the Pakenham Golf Club.
The awards recognised the outstanding contributions made to the club by a host of players who stepped up to the plate in a real break-out season.
All of the awards on offer were voted on by the playing group, itself, except for one – the Community Player of the Year – recognising the biggest contribution made by a player in giving back to basketball at a local level.
James Topp and Jeff Reid couldn’t be separated when it came to voting for the season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Reid missed the back end of the season after suffering a debilitating knee injury but his on-court presence prior to that was a literal game changer.
“That injury was just so disappointing,” said Warriors head coach Ryan Rogers.
“He was in contention for the league MVP before that.”
Young guard Jimmy Magrath was unanimously voted in as the team’s Rising Star.
“He averaged over 10 points per game over the last six games in (starting point guard) Jay Ferriere’s absence,” Rogers said.
“That just shows his maturity and his bright future.
“To have someone like him come through our junior pathway that kids can associate with is fantastic.”
Blue collar worker and defensive workhorse Jay Richardson was honoured with the Defensive Player of the Year gong.
It was just rewards for a player whose biggest contributions on a nightly basis, arguably, don’t show up on the box score.
Reserve guard Savin Lopez was named Most Improved Player.
“He had to adjust to playing structured basketball as a 29-year-old rookie,” Rogers marvelled.
“His fundamentals are very good and he’s just in his first season of Big V basketball.
“His body is in great shape and he feels like he can keep going for another four or five years.”
The Consummate Professional, or the player’s player award, went to Tim Eakins.
“He didn’t get much court time but at 33 years of age his role was to give his team mates a real pat on the back and he was a really important cog for us,” Rogers said.
Eakins was a fantastic locker-room influence on his team mates, pushed the starters in training and accepted his role within the side.
Big man Daniel Stow took out the other award on offer, the Community Player of the Year – decided by Rogers, himself.
“He was the player who put the most hours in to giving back to the community with things like junior representative nights and promoting the club,” the coach said.
In addition to their Warriors team awards, Jeff Reid and Jay Ferriere also recently took out Big V statistical gongs for Scoring Average and Golden Hands (assists, steals and turnover ratio) respectively.
PAKENHAM WARRIORS – 2013 SEASON AWARDS
– Most Valuable Player: James Topp and Jeff Reid
– Rising Star: Jimmy Magrath
– Defensive Player of the Year: Jay Richardson
– Most Improved: Savin Lopez
– Consummate Professional: Tim Eakins
– Community Player of the Year: Daniel Stow
