Picture: THOMAS MILES
TAKING to the court for the first time in three seasons, the Mount Gambier Lakers women were victorious in their round one Country Basketball League clash with Warrnambool Mermaids on Sunday afternoon.
In an arm wrestle of a game at the Icehouse, the Lakers emerged six-point winners at the final buzzer, but were pressed to the line by the Mermaids.
It was clear from the start neither team would bow down without a fight and as a result the largest margin for the match was 10 points.
That was at the start of the third term, where the Lakers had turned on their defence and restricted the Mermaids on the scoreboard.
However, the guests returned fire and by the final change it was back to a six-point ball game.
The Lakers maintained their lead in the final stanza, but they were pushed by the Mermaids, as they pressed within two points with five minutes to play.
However, the Lakers held on for a six-point win, much to the pleasure of coach Scott O’Connor in his first game at the helm of the side.
“It was a good result and a pretty good first hit out – we are happy with it for sure,” he said.
“It was pretty tight, but I thought we did a good job of controlling the game down the stretch to grind out the win.”
Olivia Wormald was a focal point and top scored for the Lakers with 15 points, bettered only by Warrnambool’s Leah Bartlett on 20.
“She (Wormald) is definitely going to be important for us all year and she had a good first game, which was good to see,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor had high praise for Claire Hunter, who also made double figures with 10 points and had a solid outing on her home court.
“Claire was fantastic, she had a really good game,” O’Connor said.
Maddy Wormald was an inclusion on Sunday, but it will likely be her only appearance for some time.
“It was handy we could include Mads, but she now heads overseas in a little bit,” O’Connor said.
“We thought we would get her in just for the one game and add a little bit more experience.”
Maddy Wormald contributed nine points in a game O’Connor described as a full team effort.
“I thought the group was good and we had some important people stand out and really take control of the game,” he said.
“There was some good surprises in there as well – I thought everyone contributed.
“They (Warrnambool) had a few shots early and had some girls who were bigger and physical, but I thought we did a good job of really locking them down in the second half.
“Our scoring dried up a bit, but our defence really stood up and showed some good form.”
The win was a positive start to the season and a much-needed boost of confidence, as the Lakers now head into a five-week hiatus due to scheduled byes.
The Mount Gambier women will not return to the court until round seven on November 23, when they play a double-header at home against Geelong United and Horsham Lady Hornets.
O’Connor has mixed opinions on the length of the break, but said it will provide more time to hit the training track hard.
“We have now got a five-week break, which is I guess good and bad,” he said.
“It would be nice to keep the momentum rolling, but it gives us a really good time frame to now get on the training track and work on all the things we need to adjust from that first game.
“We have a good five-week period to get all of the nuts and bolts tightened.
“We can probably get a bit of a scout on a few other teams, but mostly we just need to work on our own stuff and make sure we are at full flight when we come back.”
It sets up a busy second half of the season, but O’Connor said he hopes to have the team well drilled on its return and will look to carry momentum into the back half of the year.
