When Sharyn Hughes stepped onto the court with Whittlesea Pacers last weekend she became part of a rare group at the club.
She joined the Pacers as an under-12 and has been part of the senior Big V program since 2005.
Last Saturday’s match against Diamond Valley was her 200th for the club.
“Not many others have played 200 games . . . I think maybe one other,” said Hughes, now 27, following the milestone.
“It feels great as not a lot of people stay at the club for this long.”
The forwardcentre said the family feel to the Pacers was what kept her at the club during the highs and lows on court.
The standout highlights are the two championships won during that time.
“When I started we were in division 1 and then we got relegated as a number of players left.
“Since then we’ve worked our way back up, after winning division 2 [in 2009] and division 1 last year and promotion into state championship.
“Not a lot of people thought that Whittlesea could get that high in both the women’s and men’s competitions. “
Making the championship division was something Hughes never thought would happen.
“When I first started I didn’t think I’d have the chance to play in state championship, as no one was really attracted to Whittlesea,” she said.
“There were times I thought that I could move to have the opportunity, but I’m glad I stayed.”
Among Hughes’s other achievements are being both cocaptain and captain of the women’s team and touring America with the club when she was a junior.
“It’s a huge privilege to be captain of the side, especially in the first year of championship division,” she said.
“That responsibility of leading them on court is something I enjoy.”
Hughes is not sure how many more years of basketball she has in her.
“After 12 years at the highest level my body is feeling battered and bruised,” she said. “ I’ll see how I feel after the season.”
The jump up into state championship has been a tricky one for the Pacers, who have lost their first seven games of the season.
The latest loss was on Sunday, when they went down 71-64 to Warrandyte.
Tenille Cann topscored off the bench with 12 points, while Hughes scored 11.
“It has been a massive step up and we didn’t realise it would be this big,” Hughes said.
“I think we have improved since the first games and we’re now competitive.
“In the second half of the season we’ll be better. I think we’ll win a match in the next couple of weeks.”
The Pacers men are also without a win, losing both their matches on the weekend.
They went down 88-66 against Diamond Valley on Saturday, with Lincoln Garfirth and Chris Kaba both scoring 17 points.
And a last-quarter Pacers fade-out saw Werribee take the points on Sunday.
Trailing by four points at threequarter time, the Pacers were outscored 33-17 in the last quarter to lose 89-69.
In other results, Hume City’s women’s side had a big win over Bulleen in state championship division.
After leading 4026 at halftime, the Broncos shared the court time around in the second half on the way to a 77-48 win.
Colleen Planeta finished with 28 points as every player spent at least 17 minutes on court.
It was a Broncos double, with the men’s side winning 79-64 over Bulleen.
In women’s division 1, Craigieburn had another big loss, this time to Western Port.
The Eagles’ shooting woes continued, landing a poor 17 per cent from the field in the 69-40 loss.
Natalie Stewart was the only player in double figures, scoring 11 points.
The Eagles men’s side also lost to Western Port, but in a much closer division 2 clash.
A 10point fourth quarter proved costly for the Eagles as their three quarter time lead turned into a 78-72 loss.
Kane McNamara top-scored for the Eagles with 17 points.
