HOT off the press from double-header success against the top two teams on the Country Basketball League South West men’s ladder, the Mount Gambier Lakers set their sights on Millicent’s Peter Seebohm Stadium for round eight of the season tonight.
The Lakers men walked away convincing winners over Geelong United and the Horsham Hornets last week, which puts them as serious contenders for back-to-back championships.
Now up against Millicent Magic – who also defeated the Hornets last round – Mount Gambier coach Matt Berkefeld expects a challenge from the neighbouring town.
A major threat will be Jordan Robertson, who was dangerous under the hoop last week to bang home a game-high 36 points.
“He is one of the best players in the league and will always be a challenge,” Berkefeld said.
“We are going to be without Lachie Hunter this week, so it will have to be a team effort on him.”
Berkefeld said the Lakers will need to adapt to another game style for tonight’s bout, but has confidence in his players’ abilities.
“They (Millicent) have a couple of very talented bigs and their guards are young and athletic,” he said.
“That will present a different challenge again to what we had last weekend.
“We are really looking forward to it.”
Besides Hunter, the Lakers will send an almost full-strength side to Millicent.
“Braiden Ousey is one week away,” Berkefeld said.
“We play Millicent the following week as well and both Braiden and Lachie will be back for that one.
“But outside of that, we are starting to get closer to full strength.”
There will be a keen focus on the opening minutes for the Lakers and they will be eager for a strong start away from home.
“Even though we won both (last week’s) games pretty comfortable in the end, we actually started pretty slowly,” he said.
“That is going to be a point of emphasis for us this weekend.
“If we start the same way against Millicent, they will stay with us.
“The first quarter is going to be a real point of emphasis – we want to get off to a good start and go from there.”
Without the height and rebounding ability of Hunter and Ousey, the Lakers will rely on other players to fill some roles.
“A few of the things like rebounding are going to fall more on our guards’ hands,” Berkefeld said.
“Sam Stafford and Jordan Hollitt will have big roles to play this weekend.
“Simon (Berkefeld) and Kyle (Tipene) are going to have to chip in on the boards as well, just because we are not going to have the size available that we usually have.”
Mitchell Hunter and Kurt Rodis will also step in to fill Lachie Hunter’s role, demonstrating the immense depth of the Lakers roster.
While Millicent is sure to put up a fight, it is hard to bet against the Lakers men, as they chase their sixth consecutive victory.
Tip off will be at 8pm, following the women’s match.
