THE Whittlesea Pacers are back in action for the Big V basketball season, but it was a tough start for the men, while the women had a first-up bye.
The men’s Pacers had the opportunity to kickstart their season at home on Saturday night as it hosted Chelsea at the Mill Park Basketball Stadium.
An even start in the first quarter saw both teams essentially go bucket-for-bucket in the opening stages, with Chelsea eventually building up a four-point lead at the first change, leading 27-23.
After Whittlesea made a promising start to hit the front after scoring the first two buckets of the second quarter, Chelsea started to make its move, going on an 10-2 run to lead by nine midway through the term, before finishing on a 21-3 run to pull away and lead 59-42 by the main break.
The Pacers desperately needed a response, and the early stages of the third quarter suggested they would look to make a move, again scoring the first five points of the term as they did in the second quarter.
But Chelsea had plenty of scoring ammunition and it came to pass throughout the third term, taking control of the game and extending the margin to a game-high 30 points.
The Pacers had a good finish to the term to reduce the margin to 23 points, trailing 61-84 with one term to play.
Whittlesea was hoping for a good finish, and it did reduce the margin to 19 points at one stage, but Chelsea was able to score for fun in an entertaining last quarter which saw it score 37 points to the Pacers’ 31.
Matthew Fennell was sensational for the Pacers, scoring 26 points and collecting 10 rebounds as he looked to crash the glass on every opportunity, while Jalen Salon scored 12 points, and Brendon Young and Oscar Percy 11 apiece.
Whittlesea’s youth league men had no luck on Saturday night, lowering its colours to Darebin by 21 points.
The second quarter was all the difference for the Phoenix, who went on a 30-9 run to turn what was a two-point deficit into a 19-point lead at the main break, before holding firm throughout the rest of the night to win 81-60.
Riley Dorsett was Whittlesea’s best scoring option, going at a perfect seven for seven from the field to finish with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Lachlan Hoobin, Petar Talevski, Joshua Pratt and Hayden Lucas-Gunn scored seven points apiece for the Pacers.
Whittlesea’s youth league women also took defeat, losing to Western Port by 33 points.
The Pacers lost every quarter as Western Port proved much too strong, eventually losing 97-64.
Amy Temos led from the front for Whittlesea, scoring 16 points, while Peyton Burns scored 11. Shanai Hale flirted with a double-double with seven points and nine rebounds.
The Pacers women will travel to Camberwell for its first game of the season, while the men’s team travels to Bulleen this weekend.