Pirates sail to first win of season

The start was intense, with Echuca taking a slender three-point advantage into the first break, leading 12-9.

That margin crept out slightly in the second term, as the Pirates piled on 19 points to the Tigers’ 11, meaning they entered half-time with an 11-point lead, the first time all season they had been in front at the halfway mark.

And from the way in which the visitors came out in the third quarter, it was evident they were not about to let that lead slip.

With a tremendous defensive showing, the Pirates denied the Tigers any easy looks at the basket, restricting them to just seven points for the quarter while piling on 27 points themselves.

The final quarter saw the gap open wider, as the Pirates put the icing on the cake with a 23-15 term.

Pirates coach Dylan Payne was relieved his side finally put its first win on the board, praising the players’ high work rate.

“It’s good to get that maiden win of the season, especially after the start we’ve had,” he said.

“We’ve had a couple of decent games and a couple of games where we just haven’t brought the right energy, but we know that we can be competitive, and we usually have a pretty competitive game against Kyneton.

“I think they had a back-to-back, we had some fresher legs and our work rate was just high, and that’s what got us the substantive win.”

Payne spoke earlier in the season of a “rustiness” within the squad, which he thinks the group has finally managed to shake.

“I’d like to think that just because Kyneton are probably a bit of a lesser opponent, they’re struggling a bit this year, I’d like to think that we didn’t just win because of that,” he said.

“I would have thought if we’re still a bit rusty we probably would have a closer game, so I’d like to think the rustiness is starting to come away a bit.”

Mitchell Markby led the way for Echuca with a season-high 19 points, earning plaudits from Payne for his all-round performance, while Max Hagan also found form to contribute 16 points, far and away eclipsing his previous season-best of two.

“Mitch is going to get busy, he’s going to perform really well when his work rate is up,” Payne said.

“He’s struggled a bit with some health issues the last couple of weeks, but when he’s on and ready to work, he performs very well, and that was seen on the weekend.

“He was working really hard on the rebounds and on run-outs and working hard on defence, and that transferred to his offensive game as well, which he got his opportunities and he took.”

Payne also put up double digits for the first time this season, dropping 13, while Hugh Byrne and William Hipwell each contributed seven points in their first outings of the campaign.

The big win for the Pirates came in stark contrast to their previous game, which they lost by 60 points against the ladder-leading Mildura Heat.

Echuca will look to continue the good form of its Kyneton win in its double-header on November 11 and 12 following its bye this weekend.

“We certainly want to keep training, we don’t want to derail our momentum,” Payne said of the plans for the bye week.

“I’m actually away this week, but it’s been a bit hard with a few blokes; Staci (Richardson) has moved down to Melbourne, so there’s a bit of leadership gone at training, and Tyler Phillips is in America at the moment on a holiday.

“We’ve got plenty of juniors that are ready to step up and help us train, we just need to get some good solid reps in playing-wise, and we will train again on Saturday and have a run around and try and keep that momentum going.”