CONTINUING their rapid turnaround from a lacklustre 2012, the Pakenham Warriors proved they belong in Big V Division 2 finals contention with a pair of promising results against higher ranked opposition.

The Warriors took it to Gippsland’s Division 1 Big V basketball team La Trobe City Energy - winning 66 to 61 - prior to going toe-to-toe most of the way down the stretch with another Division 1 side, the Chelsea Gulls - and only losing 62 to 81 - on Sunday at home.

Without their number-one point guard, Jay Ferriere, on Saturday, Pakenham rising star James Magrath stepped into the Manhattanville alumnus’ shoes at the 1-spot and ran the ball impressively for 35 minutes against the highly touted Energy attack.

"Jimmy Magrath on Saturday was outstanding - he had to carry the ball for pretty much 35 minutes and hit some massive shots - hitting threes back to back - he’s coming on leaps and bounds," Pakenham coach Ryan Rogers said.

"He hurt his ankle yesterday, but hoping he’ll be right for Thursday night against Maccabi."

Bill Winder (19 points) continued to relish his move away from under the basket and captain James Topp (14) continued his impressive start in Warriors colours - giving early signs his return to the court from the football field was a winning move.

"Saturday we had a fantastic win against La Trobe - that was without Jay Ferriere playing - we were able to get a win against the team who was only one win away from making the Division 1 finals," Rogers said.

The 19-point loss to Chelsea - a team thought of in Big V circles as one of Division 1’s best - is a partial positive to Rogers considering the strength of the Gulls.

Chelsea yesterday (Sunday) are considered to be a top two team in Division 1 and we felt we held our own, even though we were defeated," Rogers said.

"We were a bit flat and missed some shots early, but all things considered we did really well."

Topp (11) was the best scorer for the Warriors, but Rogers highlighted the return of Jay Richardson to the court - with a nine-point, eight-rebound game - and Tim Bydder came back into the line-up from the injury list.

The last Warrior on injury watch - Sean Armstrong with a knee cyst - is on track for a round two return against Mornington, missing the Frankston pre-season tournament across the Labour Day weekend, 9-11 March.

The Warriors have drawn matches against Coburg, Casey, Keilor and Oakleigh in the preliminary stage of the tournament.

Pakenham travels to face Maccabi on Thursday night at Bialik Stadium, East Hawthorn, at 8pm.