Junior Lakers head over the ditch

AUSTRALIAN CUP REPRESENTATIVES: Basketball Mount Gambier Junior Lakers Ollie Thomson (back left), Sarah Nulty, Rori Perryman, Billy Barton (front left), Ben Young and Emily Dawe will represent the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup at the 2018 Mel Young Easter Basketball Classic in New Zealand this weekend.

A GROUP of talented young Mount Gambier athletes will take the next step forward in their sporting careers as they compete in an international competition this weekend.

The six basketball players will spend the Easter long weekend a little differently to their teenage friends as they compete against some of the best in the world.

The Basketball Mount Gambier Junior Lakers players have been selected to represent the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup and compete in the 2018 Mel Young Easter Basketball Classic.

Played in Tauranga and Rotorua over the Easter weekend, the classic is named after the late Mel Young, who was outstanding in his contributions to NZ Basketball as a player, coach, referee and administrator.

He was responsible for having New Zealand compete in the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury/Wodonga in January of each year.

This year’s tournament will see Under 16 Lakers Sarah Nulty, Emily Dawe and Ollie Thomson, along with Under 14’s Billy Barton, Ben Young and Rori Perryman make the trip to compete.

The Australian Country Cup teams comprise of Under 14 and 16 players with the teams competing in the Under 15 and Under 17 age group competitions.

Thomson is a member of the Lakers Under 16 Boys Division 1 team, which is the 2018 SA Country Champions, while Nulty is a member of the Under 16 Girls Lakers Division 1 team, which played off in the finals of the SA Country Junior Championships.

In the younger age bracket, Barton and Ben Young are members of the successful Under 14 Boys team, which is the current SA Country Basketball Division 1 Champion.

Perryman is a member of the SA Country Under 14 Girls team, which won the cup at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury.

She is also a key player in the Lakers Under 14 Girls Division 1 team, which finished runner-up in the SA Country Junior Championships after two periods of extra time.

All six youngsters played well in the Australian Country Cup competitions in January and the Under 16 trio have followed up by being selected in the 2018 SA Country Under 16 state squads.