Courtesy of Central Districts Basketball Club

The Central ABL Lions men returned from the Millicent Challenge without a victory after losses to Mount Gambier, Geelong and Forestville.

"We won every second and third quarter all weekend, just couldn't get a start or a finish" coach Whitmore stated.

"We took 13 players and had fantastic contributions from them all. With Daniel Carlin away with the state team we though height may be a factor but surprisingly enough we coped quite well".

The Lions took on the 2 powerhouse clubs from the SEABL with Geelong and Mount Gambier both previous national champs.  It proved that with only one import and with a budget a tenth of the size it can mix it with the big boys.

"Last year we went to Millicent and won all 3 games and then went on to win one game for the next 8 months so we are not reading too much into the results. The character, desire and work ethic of this year's group is first rate. It's good to have that side of it locked away at this stage of pre season.  We have a few tweaks to make to the strategy over the next few weeks that will keep us improving."

Forestville beat the Lions again for the third time this pre season. 2 weeks ago the margin with 6 minutes to go was well beyond doubt, Saturday night it was just 6 points.

"We are a completely different team to the one that played the Eagles a few weeks ago. The group has realised what will happen if mentally we are not ready to go".

"At this stage of pre season we are really happy with where we are at. We had a solid win in a trial game against North last week and that commitment was carried over into the Millicent games".

The Lions will now take on Norwood this Saturday night at Wayville, before a rematch with the North Adelaide Rockets on Monday at Mawson Lakes. The Forestville Eagles will also join these 3 teams to make it a mini carnival.

The Lions then travel to Mildura for their traditional double header with the Heat over the March long weekend.