MOUNT GAMBIER LEADER IN SA COUNTRY BASKETBALL.

Mount Gambier’s Junior Lakers Basketball teams won four of the eight 2016 Division 1 Country Championship titles conducted at metropolitan Adelaide Stadiums over the past two weekends.

Mount Gambier won three of the four Girls’ Division 1 Championships, Under 12’s, Under 16’s and Under 18’s as well as the Under 12 Boys’ Division 1 Title. The Lakers Under 18 Boys’ second team’s win in Division 3 made a total five flags for Mount Gambier in the 2016 SA Country Basketball Junior Championships in which a total of 225 teams from all areas of Country SA, Broken Hill and Mildura competed.

These outstanding achievements earned Mount Gambier the 2016 John Spooner Award, which goes to the Association winning most Division 1 games at the two weekends of Championships. This is the fifth time Mount Gambier has won the Award. Previous wins came in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Millicent won the Under 14 Division 1 Girls Gold medals, while Yorke Valley was successful in the Under 14 Boys competition. Barossa Valley and Great Southern took home the Division 1 titles in the Under 16 and 18 Boys competitions.

The most unexpected Division 1 title to come Mount Gambier’s way was that of the Under 18 Girls. Prior to the Championships, Millicent was clearly the red hot favourite having been the bench mark after their successes in the many Tournaments throughout Country SA and dominance in the SECBL weekly competition.      

The story for the Lakers Under 18 Girls is one of sharp contrast; the team has had minimum numbers throughout the season and, under Coach Sharon Adams, has finished up runner-up to Millicent in several Association Tournaments. In their opening games of the Country Championships the Lakers were somewhat hesitant and fragmented. After defeating Port Augusta 46-28 and then losing to Strathalbyn in overtime 45-46, the team took on a new look. Defensive efforts were more determined and team work became the focus.

They finished the pool games in second place by defeating Barossa valley 55-31 and Great Southern 46-38.

The Lakers easily accounted for Yorke Valley, 52-26 in the Quarter Final with Tenille Gray continuing her outstanding form as leading scorer and strong work from Brenna McKay. This led to a semi-final against Millicent, which turned out to be different to previous encounters.

The Lakers started confidently executing containment defence on Millicent’s key players, displaying composure and productive team work in offence. The Lakers’ lead hovered around double figures and stretched to 19 in the second half. Tenille Gray led the scoring with 16 points, Olivia Dukalskis had 9, Brenna McKay 8 and talented Under 16 Laker Jordy Adams also had 8. The final score was 48-34.

The Lakers went on to meet a strong and physical Mildura in the Grand Final. To their credit, the Lakers continued in the same vein to win gold against Mildura 42-28Top scorers were Tenille Gray with 12 points, Brenna Mckay 10 and Olivia Dukalskis 8 in an impressive team effort to complete an unbelievable season and a fitting finale to some members’ junior basketball careers.

The Lakers’ Under 16 Girls team, with State Coach Dan Stratford in charge, proved to be the standout side at these Championships. They outclassed pool opponents Bordertown 73-16, Broken Hill 59-25 and Eastern Hills 73-16 in comprehensive team efforts in which all 8 players scored. In the Division 1 quarter final the Lakers were too accomplished for Strathalbyn and won in another all-round team performance, 64-22. Their defensive efforts to holding opposition sides to 25 points or less set the foundations for these big wins.

Their first challenge came in the semi-final when Riverland were aggressive and competitive. Jordy Adams, Olivia Patzel, Waiata Jennings and Bella Stratford led the Lakers in their 41-32 win.

Their grand final against a tenacious Millicent side was close in the first half. Waiata Jennings had a big influence on this period of the game, playing strongly and confidently at both ends of the court. The third quarter saw the Lakers lift their intensity and take control to build a healthy margin. Final Scores were 40-27. Jennings turned in an impressive performance, Adams continued her good form to control the paint while Bella Stratford was effective as playmaker for the team in the title game.

The Lakers’ Under 12 Boys remained undefeated for the weekend although their game against Mildura went into overtime for a 47-41 result. They scored comfortable wins against Yorke Valley 48-18 and 56-41 against Port Augusta. Zach Nulty, Ben Young, Nate Davey and Joel Bryant all worked hard and displayed strong leadership for the less experienced players to follow.

The Lakers easily accounted for Millicent 42-32 in the quarter final and then romped into the Grand Final in a 49-25 rematch against Yorke Valley. Mildura defeated Port Pirie 39-32 in a tough semi-final and earnt the right of a rematch against the Lakers in the Grand Final.

Mildura took the Lakers by surprise in the opening minutes of the Final when they quickly set up an ascendancy and a 17-3 score-line. The Lakers then settled to their task and managed to lead 27-21 at half time.

The second half became show time for the Lakers as they took complete control of the game and put into practice the skills and strategies Coach Robbie Young had been working on all season. It was a blistering display of smart transition basketball and productive team work in which all 8 players contributed. The Lakers scored 32 points to Mildura’s 12 in this period; possibly their best half of basketball for the season.

Top scorers for Lakers in the final were Zach Nulty with 16, Ben Young on 14, Joel Bryant 11 and newcomer Mitchell Harrold with 8.

The Lakers Under 12 Girls quickly found out that the Championships were a level above any competition they had previously experienced. In the first of their four minor round games they managed to defeat the highly ranked Riverland 37-35 in overtime. They then scored a comfortable win over arch rival Millicent, 31-18. Rori Perryman deserves a special mention for her defensive efforts in this game. A 39-9 win over Great Southern took them into the Grand Final against Port Augusta, who had defeated Millicent by 2 points in an earlier contest. The Grand Final was a close and exciting affair throughout the 40 minutes.

Coach Peter Duncan’s composed and calm approach kept the players focussed on the game along with strong defensive work and effective plays in offence finished off by Siobhan Adams, resulted in a 36-31 Championship title. Other consistent scorers in the final were Alyssa Duncan on 9, Evany Rex on 5 and Callie Carmody on 4.

The Lakers Under 18 Boys’ second team secured the fifth SA Country Championship for Mount Gambier by winning Division 3 of the Championships. They defeated Murray Bridge 46-25 under the guidance of Coach Kane deWit. Top scorers for the Lakers in the final were Todd Reid with 15, Zane Kuller with 10 and Shaun Lock with 9.

The other junior Lakers’ teams were competitive and enjoyed the experience of these state level competitions

These overall outstanding results reflect the hard work and commitment of the junior representative team coaches and players based on the solid junior programs of the Association.