MOUNT Gambier had three Lakers teams compete in the 2023 SA Country Basketball Senior Country Championships at the St Clair Recreation Centre last weekend.
The Lakers sent two men’s teams and a women’s side to the event, all competing in the A Grade competitions.
The 2023 A Grade division had nine men’s teams and eight women’s sides with both divisions boasting some close and high-standard games across the weekend.
The Lakers women, coached by Eva Bond, played off in the grand final after a slow start to their campaign.
They met eventual winner Riverland in their opening game and went down, 25-33, in a dour defensive struggle.
From there on the Lakers found some momentum to defeat Great Southern White 62-37 and Yorke Valley 55-34.
Lakers’ talls Sarah Ritter and Keryl Ousey dominated inside, while Mikaela Horrigan and Tenielle Human gave strong support in offence.
The team showed the necessary composure and resilience to defeat Port Pirie 33-32 in the elimination final, before an equally close 66-64 point semi-final win over Strathalbyn booked a grand final berth.
The semi-final featured a strong team effort where five Lakers finished in double figures.
Cara Nulty (15 points), Mikaela Horrigan and Emily Dawe (11), Sarah Ritter and Keryl Ousey (10) all led the charge to secure a place in the decider against Riverland.
Riverland led by four in a low-scoring first quarter and then extended the margin to eight at the main break.
It managed to maintain that margin and at the final buzzer claimed a 36-28 point win over the Lakers and with it the 2023 women’s A Grade championship.
The Lakers Gold men’s side played three pool games.
They defeated Great Southern Blue 51-35 and Port Augusta 53-46, but went down to eventual champions Strathalbyn in a nail-biter 57-58.
The first three positions in this pool were decided on a three-way tie with Lakers on top, which set up a meeting with Port Pirie in the semi-final.
Playing coach Shaun Lock and Toby deWit finished off solid team efforts, while injuries to Duncan Reid and Mason Hein were a concern.
Port Pirie played strong defence to keep Lakers’ leading scorers to single-figure totals, but Zach Nulty stepped up to show his skills with a game-high 15 points despite the loss.
The hard luck story of the championships belonged to the Lakers A Grade men’s Blue team.
They were victims of the modified timing rules, which allowed draws in minor round games and unfortunately played out two draws in the pool games which denied them a chance to finish in one of the top-two places.
They drew with Eastern Hills and Great Southern Blue, lost to Port Pirie and defeated Yorke Valley.
Coach Kane deWit led by example and was well supported by Ben Young in a somewhat disappointing weekend.
Strathalbyn defeated Port Pirie 45-30 in the men’s A Grade grand final.
Lukass Blicavs was awarded MVP for the grand final and Port Augusta’s Lachlan Knibbs was named MVP for the championships.
Talented SA Country state player Krystal Thompson from Port Augusta was awarded the MVP for A Grade women, while Riverland’s Tahlia Dillon was MVP for the grand final.
In the B Grade men’s grand final Great Southern defeated Naracoorte 45-39, with Naracoorte’s Matt Black named MVP for the grade.
