James Murphy
All roads led to Millicent on Saturday for those seeking their basketball fix, with a full day of competition at Peter Seebohm Stadium.
The inaugural Shannon Seebohm Intertown Challenge Shield was contested between Mount Gambier and Millicent’s representative teams, with seven age groups taking the court for cross-town bragging rights prior to the CBL matches later in the day.
In a close turn of events, Millicent claimed the inaugural Shield with four wins to Mount Gambier’s three.
The event was introduced this year as a means to provide more competitive court time for the town teams.
“The idea arose around the great rivalry between Millicent and Mount Gambier,” Millicent Basketball stadium manager Peter Seebohm said.
“Us being small-town underdogs, we always look forward to the rivalry when we play one another.
“It was just about looking at more games for our kids really.”
He said there were a few names in the hat for who would be honoured with the Shield’s namesake.
“It was floated on who we should name it after and it came up to be my son, Shannon Seebohm,” Peter said.
Shannon played his junior years at Millicent, while also has ties to Mount Gambier through his involvement with the Pioneers Basketball Club.
He has since left the region and went on to have a successful professional playing and coaching career, with his current position as head coach of Townsville Fire in the WNBL.
Peter Seebohm said the inaugural Shield was well received, despite there being a few top talents unavailable to play.
“There was state training for the SA Country development groups, so that took a lot of the better kids out of the Division 1 teams,” he said.
However, there remained plenty of action on court and it all came down to the final game to decide the winning association.
“The last game which was played was the Under 16 Girls,” Peter Seebohm said.
“It worked out to be a really close game.”
Millicent managed to win the clash 36-31 and with it, carve their names into history as the first recipients of the Shield.
In 2023 the tournament will be played in Mount Gambier, with the hosting rights to change hands each year.
RESULTS
Under 12 Girls: Millicent 13 d Mount Gambier 12; Under 12 Boys: Mount Gambier 47 d Millicent Magic 43; Under 14 Girls: Millicent 49 d Mount Gambier 6; Under 14 Boys Division 2: Mount Gambier 48 d Millicent 26; Under 14 Boys Division 1: Millicent 55 d Mount Gambier 48; Under 16 Boys: Mount Gambier 44 d Millicent Magic 36; Under 16 Girls: Millicent 36 d Mount Gambier 31.
