Pirates plunder CBL grand final glory

It’s Echuca’s second title in the CBL and the first since its dramatic 2018-19 finale.

Echuca’s homegrown heroes stunned the Braves in a first-quarter blitz, and were far too strong, quick and determined for the shell-shocked Bendigo outfit.

The Pirates’ winning margin was 23 points at the final whistle on the back of a superb showing from its all-star cast, including eventual grand final MVP Luke Rosendale, alongside the Pirates’ vaunted stable of tall forwards.

Leo Tenace cut a proud figure in the crowd post-game after securing his second championship as coach of the electric Echuca Pirates.

“It’s fantastic reward for effort, and the effort’s been huge,” Tenace said.

“I’m just so proud of the core group of players that we’ve got here.

“Our on-ball defence was really good, they penetrated and dished a lot last game we played, and we stopped that this game.

“That was the key moment — our on-dribble defence — that set up a lot of plays.

“The boys are resilient. More importantly, they are fun-loving, and they enjoy every minute of it.”

Echuca was on fire early with a travelling contingent of vocal Pirates at its back.

Echuca’s tall attack went to work from the first buzzer, with forwards Liam Tenace and Staci Richardson muscling their way into the paint early.

Luke Rosendale was on target from the three-point line, and Echuca’s 16-10 lead midway through the first quarter turned into 30-17 after a 14-point run to finish the first term.

Bendigo scored the first six points of the second quarter to send a jolt through the Pirates camp, but Richardson continued to exert his influence in the paint to keep the Braves at arm’s length.

Rosendale knocked down another three-pointer to stretch the lead back out to 12, but the Braves dogged counterpunch meant the Pirates’ lead was cut back to five at the half-time buzzer, 40-35.

Both sides traded baskets in a tense third-quarter showdown, but Rosendale found another gear to break the deadlock.

Rosendale scored Echuca’s first seven points of the third quarter, and at the other end of the court, Tyler Phillips stifled the Braves’ offence.

Phillips then sunk a miraculous three-pointer with just one-second on the shot-clock from a Pirates inbound, before a pin-point corner three from Rosendale saw Echuca extend its lead to a game-high 15 points heading into the final quarter.

Now, the Pirates were daring to dream of championship glory once again.

A tense opening stanza of the final quarter saw both sides go scoreless in the first few minutes, until Tenace broke through the Braves’ ranks for a pair of two-point conversions, extending the lead to 19 points with five minutes to play.

With the clock running down, Echuca’s celebrations began in earnest with a Regan Smith three-pointer, and at the final whistle it was a jubilant Pirates outfit with a 23-point lead to claim its second championship.

While the result this time around was far more comprehensive than the overtime thriller against Mildura, the two grand finals do share a common thread — the grand final MVP.

Rosendale was electric once again in the biggest game of the season, earning best-on-court honours for his game-high 23-point performance.

It’s his second MVP honour after his overtime heroics in Echuca’s previous grand final outing, and his second title with the Pirates.

But it’s the bigger picture that Rosendale, one of the generals in Echuca’s all-star cast, sees for Echuca-Moama basketball after the grand final triumph.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the awesome people that are a part of the Echuca-Moama Basketball Association,” Rosendale said.

“Grand final MVP, whatever it is, means nothing compared to what this title actually does for the association, and us boys.”

Rosendale credited the squad’s first-quarter assault on a consistent game style and not being carried away in the high-pressure nature of the grand final.

“That first quarter was awesome by us, we did everything we needed to,” he said.

“We spoke about it in the pre-game, just ride the highs and lows of the game.

“Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just be consistent with what we do.”

Richardson (14 points) was monstrous on offence in tandem with Liam Tenace (18) and Phillips (10).

But premiership accolades were just the beginning for Tenace on Saturday night, judged the North-West conference MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the post-game awards ceremony following a sensational 2021-22 season.

Phillips, also celebrating his second CBL title, said it was deserved recognition for the 21-year-old Pirates livewire.

“(Liam) deserves every bit of it, he’s probably a bit underrated I believe,” Phillips said.

“So, to get some recognition is beautiful for him.”

The Echuca-Moama Basketball Association will now have another premiership pennant hanging from the home-court rafters, on the back of a core group who developed their craft as junior Pirates.

“We’re all just a bunch of local guys playing basketball together,” Phillips said.

“We don’t have another level, this is it and the peak of what most of us go to, so to get the silverware is great.

“We’ve got 18 guys in the squad, we’re all from Echuca. It’s just such a family.”

Pick up a copy of the Wednesday edition of the Riverine Herald for a souvenir picture spread of the 2022 North-West conference champions.