SA Country Basketball Junior Championships are Here
Next weekend, March 8th, 9th and 10th, first of the two weekends of the 2014 SA Country Basketball Junior Championships will be played at three metropolitan stadiums, Wayville, Pasadena and Morphett Vale.
One hundred and six teams from all country regions of South Australia, Mildura and Broken Hill will travel to Adelaide to compete in fifteen divisions of Under 14 and 18 Boys and Girls age groups involving 280 games. Minor round games will be played on Saturday and Sunday followed by finals on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. The fifteen Grand Finals begin at 12 Noon on Monday.
Mount Gambier’s junior Lakers will be represented by seven teams in this year’s championships, two teams in the Under 18 Men’s, Under 14 Boy’s and Girl’s divisions along with one Under 18 Women’s team.
The Under 18 Men are favoured to win back to back Division 1 titles in what is expected to be the feature competition of these championships. Their line-up comprises five current state players, Sam Stafford, Stephen Sochacki, Braiden Ousey, Josh Jenner and Brad Rathjen. Competing in the recent Country Victorian Championships has been a solid preparation according to Coach Simon Berkefeld. The Lakers meet Roxby Downs, Mildura, Eastern Hills and Port Pirie in their pool games before finals series involving cross over games with the other five team pool.
The Lakers Under 18 Women have a tough assignment in their nine team Division 1 competition and especially in their five team pool. Yorke Valley, who easily won the Port Augusta Junior Tournament, has one state player while Great Southern is likely to be their strongest opponent, having two state players and a reserve in their line-up. Current state Under 18 player, Rachael Hines and former Country Cup member Danika Jolley will be key players in the Lakers side. Teagan Gray, Casey Horrigan and Eilish McKay are also consistent contributors. Whyalla, grand finalist at the Whyalla junior Tournament, Murray Bridge with two state players and Millicent with one state player and a reserve appear to be the strongest contenders in the other pool.
The Lakers second Under 18 Men’s team, with Steve Zippel in charge, will play in a five team competition in Division 3 against Adelaide Plains, Jamestown, Port Lincoln and Strathalbyn.
The Under 14 Girl’s Division 1 competition is expected to be of a particularly high standard after the successes enjoyed by SA Country at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury in January. Mount Gambier is joined by Yorke Valley, Riverland, Great Southern, Port Lincoln, Broken Hill, Millicent, Murray Bridge, Mildura and Strathalbyn. Coach Trevor Semmens expects tough opposition in all games and will therefore be looking for consistent, tenacious team efforts from the Lakers players.
The Lakers second Under 14 Girls’ team will compete in Division 3 of this age group.
The Lakers Under 14 Boys teams have struggled throughout the “Junior Tournament” season. They have however maintained their enthusiasm and aim to be competitive in the coming championships. The teams are playing in Divisions 3 and 5 respectively.
Coaches are having their final training sessions this week.
The SA Country Under 12 and 16 Championships will be held over the weekend of March 22 and 23.
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