Tara Murray
Westgate Imperials have capped off a stunning inaugural Big V men’s youth league 2 season with a championship.
After finishing the regular season in fourth spot, the Imperials won through to face an undefeated Pakenham Warriors in the grand final on Saturday night.
The Imperials embraced being the underdogs and playing on the road in front of a big Warriors crowd.
It worked with the Imperials winning 74-69.
Imperials vice-president Sarah Simpson was in disbelief at what the group had achieved.
“What a game,” she said. “We knew we were underdogs.
“We worked really hard and they stuck to the task at hand. We knew what we had to do, it was fantastic.”
Simpson said they managed to get about 200 supporters to make the trek to the other side of the city for the game.
She said the crowd really came into it late in the game.
“They were fantastic,” she said. “The last quarter they were really behind us and had the Westgate chant going.
“We have a strong community and everyone got behind them.”
Simpson said the match was similar to their semi final win against the Whittlesea Pacers, with not much between the two teams.
Scores were level at half time.
“The score was tight throughout,” Simpson said. “We had a small lead throughout a lot of the game.
“We had great composure and that was the key.”
The third quarter is called the premiership quarter and it proved to be for the Imperials.
They won the quarter 24-17 to lead by seven points at the last break.
Simpson said they just stuck to the game plan and did a fantastic job of it.
But they knew the work wasn’t done.
“They knew they had to hold on,” Simpson said. “They kept being challenged half way through the quarter.
“We were able to find another gear. Our captain Kurt [Butler] was cramping badly .
“We call him captain composure and he kept his.”
James Avgerinos, who finished with 23 points and seven assists, was awarded the best on court medal.
Butler finished with 17 points and Troy Hazel with 13.
Simpson said the championship was the starting point of the club’s Big V program and what they want to achieve.
“We finished fourth and the boys will now have the chance to challenge for division 1,” she said.
“We’ll continue to build the program regardless if we’re in division 1 or 2 and look to have another strong season.
“Hopefully we’ll have a youth league women’s team and they can follow in the success of this team.”
