WITH just minutes remaining Bendigo Brave Tanner Rayner went to the stripe, drained both free throws and incredibly put his side in front.
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A side that had trailed by 20-points in the second quarter looked to be doing what it does best – winning.
But then the crowd came alive.
A group of junior Pirates on Echuca’s baseline broke into ‘‘Pirates” chants. Immediately the 350 strong home crowd filled the stadium with noise, as if it could push the Pirates home by sheer volume — and they did. Captain Dan Newman said it was everything his team needed.
“The atmosphere in those final minutes was incredible,” he said. “It drove us. It made us take that extra step when it got close.”
It drove them all the way to the CBL North-West men’s grand final – and scored a major first for the club because according to the Pirates camp, this was the first Echuca side to win a final at senior level.
A win that had seemed almost routine but proved tougher as the game wore on.
Echuca got off to a strong start with Luke Rosendale hitting twice from downtown, and with Tyler Phillips and Riley Clarke looking good early, the Pirates pulled out to a big lead.
However the early dominance was slowed by foul trouble, putting Bendigo into the bonus midway through the second and costing easy points.
The Pirates took an 11-point lead into the main break but more foul trouble in the third left Rosendale and Liam Tenace facing long stretches on the bench nursing four fouls each.
“It’s not a position you want to be in, that’s for sure,” Tenace admitted.
“You want to have everyone ready to head out onto the floor, and as they started to cut into the lead, we didn’t want to be watching from the bench.”
Phillips hit four fouls too as he cranked up the tempo when Bendigo surged to the lead.
“A bit of nerves and a bit of anger at the position that we were in was starting to creep in at that stage,” Rosendale said.
“Emotions were high at that stage, so we were definitely feeling it.”
As the crowd came alive Echuca’s faltering offence finally snapped back into rhythm.
With Clarke running the point, Matt Kellet took on the scoring role, grabbing seven of Echuca’s final 14-points.
“I think Riley played fantastic basketball tonight,” coach Leo Tenace said.
“There is no guesswork with what Matt will give you — it will be 120 per cent every time. And the longer the game goes, the better Matt seems to get, and he showed that tonight.”
In the final minutes, everything seemed to go the Pirates way.
Bendigo air-balled a number of open threes, while the crowd exploded following a huge rejection from Clarke.
As Bendigo began to panic, Echuca’s skills sharpened, stealing errant passes, and forcing Bendigo into foul trouble – including a technical – as the Pirates tried to eat up the clock.
With mere seconds left the Pirates took possession and ran it down to the cheers of an elated Echuca Stadium.
The Pirates were grand final bound.
“We wouldn’t have believed it at the start of the season,” Leo Tenace said.
“It’s all about the character of the group. They’re only young, but they worked hard to get to where we are.”
“It feels absolutely brilliant,” Newman said. “We are all stoked as a group, and we cannot wait for Saturday.”
The side left the court through a guard of honour of junior and Lady Pirates as the crowd continued to celebrate.
The Pirates will take on the Mildura Heat at 4pm in Bendigo on Saturday.
In round six the Pirates hammered Mildura by 20 and then pipped them by three in the last regular game to secure top spot on the ladder.
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