The Country Basketball League resumed its season after a well-deserved Christmas and New Year’s break with the Mount Gambier Lakers hosting the Terang Tornadoes at The Icehouse.

The Tornadoes women’s team was coming off a loss against Millicent while the men were coming from a win from the previous evening.

Both teams started off strong in the women’s match-up.

Each team was still trying to find rhythm with each other on the court which resulted in a low-scoring first quarter of 12 a piece.

Lakers coach Bryan Green gave his side a good rev-up and the girls came back stronger in the second quarter.

The girls scored 21 points against Terang’s one point, but Terang still defended hard against the Lakers which made the scoreboard seem closer than it was.

In the second half, Terang tried its hardest to come back and while the points did not hit the board, the Lakers still found themselves under pressure.

Many turnovers occurred, some three times in a row from the Lakers, but the girls were able to still finish as winners in this round, defeating Terang 72-34.

Sarah Ritter led on the board with 26 points, Keryl Ousey 13, Ava Collins and Emily Dawe 9, Mikaela Horrigan 6, Tenielle Human 4, Ambah Beveridge 3 and Satu Aumo 2.

The men’s match against Terang was a brilliant game of defence and scoring.

The pressure was on the entire match with the lead changing regularly.

The Lakers defended the ring well with some mishaps every now and then but huge crowd support at The Icehouse helped to push the boys over the line and get another win, securing top spot on the ladder.

Shaun Lock’s three-pointer was able to get them the win and Ben Young’s final second three-pointer took the score to 88-72.

Lock and Kyle Tipene led with 18 points, followed by Braiden Ousey with 17, Simon Berkefeld 15, Young 13, Matt Berkefeld 4 and Toby de Wit 3.

The team will travel to Horsham on Saturday to compete against the Horsham Hornets, before hosting the Portland Coasters in their final regular season match.