It took two games of basketball and a chaotic, drama-filled final minute to see the Pakenham Warriors Youth Women promoted to the Youth League Championship for season 2025.
The Championship is the top flight of Youth League basketball in Victoria.
The women’s qualification series was played at Narrandjeri Stadium in Darebin.
The Warriors’ first game was against the Nunawading Spectres who finished seventh in the Watson conference in Championship in 2024.
The winner of the game would be granted automatic qualification.
Pakenham was on the front foot early with blisteringly-paced offence allowing them to jump to an 18-4 lead.
At the first break, the Warriors led 21-10.
Whatever was said in the Spectres’ huddle worked, as Nunawading went on a run of their own; dominating the second quarter and taking the lead.
The Warriors were smothered and countered offensively, only scoring two field goals in the frame with the rest of their 13 points coming via the free-throw line.
Nunawading got to the rim at will, scoring 16 points inside the paint to completely swing the course of the matchup.
Midway through the third, a Chelsea Schreuder free throw put Pakenham back up by one, but this would be the last time the Warriors led for the contest.
Some tough shot making, including two threes, expanded Nunawading’s advantage to double figures at the three-quarter-time break.
From there, despite some nice buckets from Stella O’Loughlin, Stephanie Nellen and Sienna Read, the Spectres were able to hold off any comeback attempts and coasted to a 16 point win, 60-76.
Taleesha O’Kane top scored with 19 points and swiped six steals for the Warriors, with O’Loughlin adding 10 points of her own.
“There were lots of positives in that game,” head coach Dave Barry noted.
“The final scoreline didn’t reflect how we played.”
However, their Youth League Championship dream wasn’t dead, with a final sudden-death matchup with the Knox Raiders.
Once again, the Warriors started off hot, taking the early advantage in the first.
O’Kane made her presence felt, scoring six points to open up the game for Pakenham and her side led 20-17 after one.
Knox’s second-quarter defence was suffocating, allowing just 10 points and generating five Warriors turnovers to completely flip the game.
At the half, the Raiders boasted a six-point lead.
The second half was back and forth, with neither side taking a bigger lead than eight, but Pakenham still trailed by five entering the final quarter.
Despite playing well in the fourth, the Warriors couldn’t get within striking distance, as Knox had possession, up by four, with just over 30 seconds to play.
Schreuder then came up huge, forcing a steal and winning possession back for the Warriors and they capitalised via a crucial three from Keauna Mills to cut the lead to just one.
On the following possession, another steal, this time from O’Loughlin, pushed Pakenham onto the fast break.
O’Loughlin finished at the rim to give the Warriors an improbable lead with just 13 seconds remaining.
However, the game was far from over.
Schreuder was overly physical as Knox went for the win, being whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul, resulting in two massive free throws and possession for the Raiders.
A sigh of relief was felt from the bench as Knox was unable to convert on either chance at the line.
With possession back due to the foul ruling, again Pakenham was too physical and sent the Raiders back to the free throw line for another chance to tie and take the lead.
Nerves were fully sinking into the Knox line up, as once again they came up empty from both free throws.
The drama didn’t end there, as the Raiders were able to corral the offensive rebound, leading to yet another Warriors foul.
A third straight trip to the line, with nerves and pressure as high as ever.
Knox inexplicably missed their fifth and sixth consecutive free throws, and Pakenham miraculously came away as one point victors, 69-68.
More importantly however, they had earned promotion to Youth League Championship.
“We built some good pressure and made some good decisions down the stretch,” Barry said.
“The girls played together and thoroughly deserved to win that game.
“If that’s our baseline moving forward, I’ll be very happy to see where they can go.”
There are lots of improvements and adjustments to be made at the next level, but the Warriors are ready for the challenge.
For now, they reflect on the achievement and progress they’ve made to reach the top division.
“There were definitely patches where we weren’t playing our best basketball but the ability to even out those highs and lows was really the key to winning,” team captain Chelsea Schreuder said.
“I’m really excited to see what our team can do at a higher level.”
