James Murphy
HORSHAM HORNETS 84 d MOUNT GAMBIER LAKERS 82
A FOURTH-quarter comeback has dealt the Mount Gambier Lakers men their first loss of the 2022-23 South West Country Basketball League season.
The Lakers hosted the match on Sunday afternoon, with the Hornets hot off a win over Millicent Magic the night before.
Scores were level at the first change, with 16 points apiece, before the Lakers outscored their opponent in the next two quarters.
The pressure started to mount in the third quarter, as the home side was unable to shake their opponent.
Playing coach Kane de Wit was crucial during that period and put his body on the line to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Simon Berkefeld was also prolific and made several assists.
As such the Lakers held off the Hornets and held a 67-55 point advantage heading into the final stanza.
However, the Hornets were not out of the fight and they limited the home team to 15 points in the fourth, while piling on 29 of their own to snatch the lead and topple the ladder leaders.
“They were a pretty good team,” de Wit said.
“I thought we had them on the ropes heading into the fourth quarter, but they went on a run and we couldn’t stop them.
“They lifted their game and were being very vocal.
“We run out of a bit of steam and let them back in the game.”
As he was on Saturday against the Magic, Austin McKenzie was the danger man for Horsham with a game-high 28 points, complemented by Cody Bryan’s 23.
De Wit was best for the Lakers under the hoop, while he was also reliable from outside.
He finished with a total of 19 points, while Berkefeld (15), Kyle Tipene (12) and Ben Young (10) also broke into double figures.
However, de Wit said it was a team effort, with the Lakers proffering to “win by committee”, rather than rely on individual performances.
“We were all pretty solid, but no one stood out too much,” he said.
“Shaun Lock had a good game off the bench and Braiden (Ousey) was doing a good job fighting with the big bodies all game.”
Defence will be a focus heading into this round, as it let them down on Sunday.
“Our defence needs a fair bit of work,” de Wit said.
“We could have easily won that game by a bit, but had a lot of defensive lapses, particularly in that last quarter.”
The loss was not enough to knock the Lakers out of top spot, but a meeting with second-placed Ararat Redbacks this weekend will be pivotal.
