THE Mount Gambier Lakers will welcome back their Country Basketball League South West Men’s campaign with a tough double-header on the road for Round 12 of the competition.
Blue Water Leisure Centre will be the Lakers’ first stop when they take on the Colac Kookas tomorrow, followed by a clash with Terang Tornadoes on Sunday.
The two Victorian sides sit second and third respectively on the ladder and as a result Mount Gambier will feel the pressure, particularly coming off a long break over the Christmas and new year period.
The Lakers have held an unbeaten record in the opening 11 rounds of competition and will hope to maintain that perfect score when returning to the Blue Lake City on Sunday night.
Colac is capable of keeping up with the Mount Gambier side, losing by just nine points on the latter’s home deck earlier in the season.
It is crucial the Lakers put a stop to the dominance of Jacob Pupavac, Samuel Barrow and Lewis Varley who all reached double figures in the Round 4 clash.
If Mount Gambier can hold the trio to limited scores then it could break away with an early lead.
Kane deWit has been the go-to player for the Lakers and in their last encounter with the Kookas he sunk an impressive 31 points.
He will again have a big influence on the contest this weekend and will be well supported by the likes of Dellon Brown, Sam Stafford and Matthew Berkefeld.
The Lakers have limited weaknesses and will aim to post a solid victory prior to their second match of the weekend against Terang.
The Tornadoes sit third on the South West ladder, but have dropped a significant amount of games in comparison to Colac, who sits above them.
Mount Gambier played host to Terang in the opening game of the season and easily accounted for the visitors 80-57.
The Lakers will hope to repeat that same performance on Sunday, but are well aware of the Tornadoes improvement since Round 1.
Terang had two dominant players in its first game of the season – Scott Judd and Jake O’Flynn – but since then Dean Brebner and Toby Mahony have stepped up their game on the offensive front.
With Terang holding the home-deck advantage, it is crucial Mount Gambier is on its A-game from the tip off, particularly after a tough game the day prior.
It was again deWit, Brown, Stafford and Berkefeld who dominated the opening game and the four will hope to repeat that same performance in Sunday’s clash.
With finals just weeks away it is crucial for Mount Gambier’s confidence it returns home with at least one victory, but ideally two.
