One of the local sporting stories of the year has enjoyed a happy ending, with the Penrith Panthers crowned Champions of the Waratah 2 Youth League Men competition.
After completing the regular season undefeated, the young Panthers continued their unbeaten run in the playoffs to secure the title without dropping a single game all year.
All up, Penrith won 27 from 27 on their way to the Waratah 2 Youth League Men’s Championship last Sunday.
After taking care of the Sydney Comets 65-44 in Saturday’s semi-final, the Panthers returned to the court the following day to play Sutherland in the big one.
Sutherland, the winners of Pool A, took on Penrith, the winners of Pool B, in what was expected to be a battle for the ages. However, the Panthers were simply awesome, proving they were the best team in the league by far with a more than convincing 105-67 victory.
Speaking with the Weekender, Panthers coach Matt Porter said the 38-point thrashing was “truly special” after what was a lacklustre semi-final performance by their standards.
“Our semi-final on Saturday was a shocker,” he said.
“It wasn’t as though we played bad, we just couldn’t shoot.
“It was our lowest scoring game for the whole season.
“Our goal all season was to make the Grand Final and, if we did that, we would be promoted to Division 1 next year. We put so much emphasis on that all year.
“After we made the Grand Final, there was no pressure anymore and it changed how the players approached the game on Sunday not having that stress.”
Following the Grand Final, Panthers young gun Harrison Turner was named the MVP of the game thanks to a 23-point performance, while Jett Hickson was named MVP of the entire competition. Hickson, along with teammate Lachlan Stone, were also named in the All Star 5 Team.
“The boys are really good at playing for each other,” Porter said.
“If someone is having an off game, someone else will step up.”
After conquering Division 2 in the most emphatic way possible, the Panthers will rise to Division 1 next year where an all-new challenge awaits.
Porter said he’d loved to see the side stay together and make even more history.
“They are a committed bunch of players, and they train very hard,” he said.
“Every challenge we had this year, they stepped up. Yes, Division 1 will be harder, but that will give them more fire to train harder and I do think they’ll be able to handle it quite well.”
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.