IT was a fairytale finish for the Mount Gambier Lakers on Saturday night, when they claimed a dominant win over the Bacchus Marsh Lions to be crowned 2018-19 Country Basketball League South West men’s champions.
The Lakers had control from the first buzzer and by the end of play had stormed home to a 54-point thrashing.
There were no passengers on the night, with everyone playing their part and an even contribution on the scoreboard.
However, the efforts of coach Kane de Wit can not go unrecognised.
He top scored for the match with a monstrous 37 points, which included an impressive 10 three-pointers.
And if the dominant victory was not enough, both de Wit and Matt Berkefeld were named in the All Star 5 of the South West competition, while de Wit was also awarded the most valuable player in the grand final.
Lachie Hunter capped off the success when he was presented with the league’s defensive player of the year award.
For de Wit, it was the perfect way to finish an almost faultless season.
“It was fantastic,” he said.
“I could not have asked for a better played game from our boys.”
There was plenty of room to move on the night, as the Lakers tore open the Bacchus Marsh defence, allowing the premiers to gain the early advantage.
“We smoked them really,” de Wit said.
“We started off really strong and kept them to four points in the second quarter and did not look back.
“It was a really good win.”
De Wit credited his accuracy from the three-point line to the freedom the Lakers were able to create on the court.
“Their defence was not great to begin with and we kind of took advantage of that with our ball movement,” he said.
“We got wide open looks every time we went down the court essentially.
“And we scored a lot of them, which obviously made the scoreboard look really nice.”
Despite a 32-15 point lead at the first change, which turned into a 54-22 scoreline after a purple patch in the second term, de Wit said it was not until later in the game it hit him the win was almost inevitable.
“We started really strongly in the first quarter, but at the time we had to be weary that it was only the first quarter,” he said.
“It was the same at half time, if we could put that many points on the board in a half, then so could they.
“But by midway through the third we kind of realised we had it in the bag.
“Then we just looked at keeping the scoreboard ticking over so we could get the win.”
It was unquestionably a team effort, despite the dominant performance from de Wit, with all but two of the eight players who hit the court bagging a double-figure score on the night.
Simon Berkefeld was next in line with a 17-point game, while Sam Stafford (16), Lachie Hunter (15) and Braiden Ousey (13) were all around the mark.
However, one player de Wit said really stepped up on the night was Kurt Rodis.
He finished on 11 points, but put in the hard yards at both ends of the court.
“I think everyone played their best possible game,” de Wit said.
“Kurt Rodis definitely stepped up and had a very good game at both ends of the court.
“He stepped up massively for us and everyone else did their part and stepped up and played our game.”
With last year’s grand final loss to the Colac Kookas fresh on his mind, de Wit said the approach to Saturday’s decider was to avoid a repeat of that game.
“We did not have a good grand final last year when we played Colac, we got wiped off the floor,” he said.
“I kind of come in and thought, ‘well, we are not losing this game and we are going to make sure of it early on’.
“Luckily I was able to hit a few of the shots I missed last year and we were able to get a win.”
With 10 three-pointers making up the bulk of his total, de Wit said it was the openness of the court which allowed him to make those shots.
“When the shots were as open as they were Saturday night, it was pretty hard not to make them,” he said.
“That is credit to all the guys moving the ball around and everyone being a threat out there.
“It just opened up the court for everyone.”
Reflecting back on the season, de Wit is proud of what the team has accomplished.
“I am obviously very proud of the boys,” he said.
“We have one black spot on the record from the Horsham game and I guess the Colac game because of the rain.
“We paid Horsham back earlier in the season, we would have liked to have done it in the grand final, but we did get them back.”
He said the team atmosphere has been an enjoyable one all year, which made the success all the more sweet.
“The group of guys we are playing with, we definitely had a lot of fun, both in the (grand final) game and throughout the year.
“I could not ask for a better group of guys to win a premiership with.”
The premiership also marks somewhat an end of an era for de Wit, as he tries his luck in the Adelaide Premier League this season, playing for the Forestville Eagles.
That will see him up against fellow teammates from the Mount Gambier Pioneers, who make their debut in the league next month.
“I started moving a couple of weeks ago and have just moved into a new place now,” de Wit said.
“I am just trying to get settled in and learn Adelaide a little bit, which is difficult.
“It is a big change.
“Obviously I will miss playing with the Pioneers and all the boys there, but it is a move I had to make for me.”
The aim of the move was to focus on his basketball and after the uncertainty of the Pioneers’ future at the end of 2018, de Wit decided it was the best way to ensure he remained on the court at a high level.
“I am moving up there for basketball and I am working there now as well,” he said.
“I was considering doing study again, but for now I am just going to focus on basketball.”
He said it was nice to kick start this new chapter of his life with the CBL premiership, but is confident he will be back playing for Mount Gambier “in no time at all”.
