By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Warriors’ Big V men’s side has suffered its second heartbreaking defeat in as many weeks, pushing Division 2 league-leaders Western Port to the brink on their home court in Somerville before ultimately falling by just four points, 78-74.
The Warriors came out of the gates well with a 24-20 quarter-time lead on the back of 50 per cent shooting from the field.
But coach Jeff Reid said his side struggled with a lack of urgency throughout the contest.
“It was close the whole game and I expected it to be because, like we say every week, anyone really can beat anyone else in this division.
“Western Port were on top for a reason going into that game because they’ve got some guys who can really light it up, including the league’s leading scorer (Manny Hendrix), but it was a weird game – it almost felt like we cruised through it.
“We never seemed to take control and it just seemed like we ran out of time in the end.”
The Warriors are currently 1-5 from their first six games of the season but have lost three games by four points or less – including their two most recent match-ups.
And Reid said it was “getting a bit beyond a joke”.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I was happy with our offence on the weekend but it was fine – that wasn’t the problem at all, we put enough points up to win the game,” he said of the Western Port clash.
“It was the defensive end that was the issue.
“I stressed to the guys before the game that they had the leading scorer of the league and he does like to shoot the ball, and we had to try and stop that from happening.
“We did an OK job on Manny, but it was the other guys who hurt us a bit more.”
Hendrix finished with 23 points on 9-16 from the field and 4-9 from three-point land but Kade Marra and Ricki Dehaan also came to the party, finishing with 24 points and 22 points respectively.
Warriors import Darren Galloway finished with 30 points – the supremely gifted guard’s first such game of the season, while the ever-consistent Hayden Davey finished with 17 points and 5 boards.
Pakenham will look to come out with a real purpose on both ends of the floor this Saturday when it takes on Collingwood from 7pm at the Colosseum at Cardinia Life.
The game is the second of a double-header, following the Warriors Big V Division 2 women who take to the court against Chelsea at 5pm.
