By Jonty Ralphsmith
A massive finish from import Malik Colvin-Seldon has led Pakenham’s Big V Championship Men to an adrenaline-pumping overtime victory on Saturday night.
The Warriors’ fitness and poise helped deliver a series of clutch plays late as Blackburn faltered against the laser-tight defence and noise at Cardinia Life, with the final score reading 117-109.
After needing to come from behind to force overtime, Pakenham’s ability to execute late saw them win the additional five minutes 13-5 to maintain their unbeaten record in 2024.
Cody Fredrickson was the only player who had to go off after visibly cramping, but not before he made a terrific three to apply scoreboard pressure and kickstart overtime.
That play set the scene for the dying stages.
From that point on, the Warriors shot four out of six from the field and made all four of their free-throws, while Blackburn made just one of their 14 field goals attempted, to go with a pair of free-throws.
“We’ve proven that our decision-making at the end is (very good) as well and I’ve put together a team that has a very high basketball IQ which we need,” coach Rob Roberts said.
“My whole gameplan has always been about a fast basketball game and as a transition coach, I’ve always put squads together based on that fitness.
“The longer preseason also gave us the opportunity to work on end-of-game type fitness – it’s something we pride ourselves on.”
Colvin-Seldon then made three consecutive layups and two free-throw attempts to help Pakenham accelerate to a six point lead with 1:16 to go, which proved unassailable.
Four missed shots in a 13-second period soon thereafter to Blackburn was symbolic of the way the late stages played out.
Pakenham trailed by seven points with 5:21 to play before making three consecutive twos.
A steal and fast break from Colvin-Seldon with 4:41 remaining energised the crowd and player; 17 of Colvin-Seldon’s 39 points came from that point onward.
Offensively sound and cool under pressure, he used his size and power to make a crucial layup with 17 seconds remaining, before setting up Joe Davis perfectly, who evened the ledger with 8.9 seconds remaining.
“His decision-making is becoming a lot better and he knows when it is time to go and when to play the team game,” Roberts said of Colvin-Seldon.
“There was a moment he went on a fast break and it would have been a three-on-one so he waited for everyone to set up and ended up finding one of our guys in the corner – that shows his decision making has come a long way.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him, he’s getting to the right spots, he’s working hard.”
Matt Berkec, a menace inside all night in game 100 and perennially efficient shooter, and Josh Dow clogged the lane to repel Blackburn’s final look at the bucket.
That followed a rampant start to the game from Blackburn, which made all five threes in the early stages to take an early lead.
Back-to-back threes to Berkec and Davis midway through the quarter got Pakenham into it in a start where mild momentum shifted multiple times.
The Warriors started the second stanza strongly, before Blackburn’s Kortland Martin was substituted on midway through the quarter, scoring 10 of his 33 points in that period and making things happen.
Blackburn went into halftime up by five points and after a scrappy start to the third quarter, Berkec, Ned Weideman and Michael Johns landed decisive blows to keep the game in the balance going into the last period.
Pakenham’s bounce kept them in the game in the last quarter against the fatiguing visitors, despite looking on the precipice on multiple occasions.
Blackburn looked dangerous from beyond the three point line, but after making 64 per cent of their threes in the first half, they managed just 36 per cent in the second half.
By contrast, Pakenham backed their size down low, with key players lifting, rather than faltering as the match went on.
And while Blackburn were reliant on two players who each shot 33 points, Pakenham had a much more even spread.
“We had two opportunities to either send it to overtime or win it and we decided to send it to overtime rather than risk the loss,” Roberts explained.
“We knew we had the fitness and we really noticed in the last minute or two of the game, their main guys were really struggling with that.
“The plan was to get it in to overtime and use our legs to run it out and it worked.
“It was a calculated risk and we thought ‘if we could tie it up, we could stop them’.”
