MOUNT Gambier junior Lakers have returned from a tough Under 14 and Under 18 SA Country Championships, with nine sides representing the Blue Lake city.
The Under 14 Division 1 girls were off to a solid start with a convincing win over Barossa Valley and backed it up with a gutsy two-point victory over Whyalla on their way to four straight victories and top of their pool before the crossover games.
The Lakers then faced Millicent, with the Magic claiming a two-point victory, to then go on and win the title.
The Under 18 Division 1 boys were off to a similar start on their way to five straight wins and a spot in the grand final.
Ben Young was impressive, averaging just under 20 points per contest.
Disaster struck in the warmup of the grand final with team leader Zach Nulty breaking his leg.
The team worked hard in his absence but Mildura came out on top by four points in overtime.
The Under 14 Division 3 and 5 girls teams both reached their respective grand finals.
The Division 3 girls did the hard way, with four out of their seven games decided by six or less points, including an over time thriller against Great Southern.
They met Naracoorte in the grand final and went down by 17 points.
The Division 5 team went undefeated on their way to the grand final, using a fast paced team-first style of play.
They were challenged in the final by a tough Eastern Hills team but Gracie Dalton backed up her impressive tournament with 15 points in the final to give her side the edge and the championship.
The Under 18 Division 2 boys chose not to drop down to Division 3, as many other teams do in Country Championships.
While they did not win any games, they battled hard and stuck to their game plans, with Nelson Forbes top scoring for his side averaging just under eight points per contest.
It was a tough opening day for the Under 18 Girls starting 0-2 before finding their form against Port Augusta and Millicent to set up a semi-final game against Riverland, a side that boasts some of the top talent in the state.
The Lakers worked hard to give themselves a chance at victory but could not overcome the class of the Riverland side, going down by six points.
The Under 14 Division 3 side made it through to the quarter finals, falling short to Great Southern, while the Division 5 U14 side went into the tournament undermanned, with injured Hunter Higgins unable to play.
The side went undefeated through the minor rounds to up a semi-final contest with Light but ran out of steam and went down by one point.
After splitting their first two games the Under 14 Division 1 boys found their mojo to win the next three by an average of 24 points.
The contest between the Mount Gambier side and the eventual champions Mildura in the semi-finals was one of the most intense games of the weekend.
Mildura claimed the win by five points.
