More COVID-19 chaos has hit Basketball Mount Gambier where it hurts as the latest postponement has placed the remainder of the city’s Country Basketball League campaigns in jeopardy.

With finals looming large, the Chemist King Mount Gambier Lakers were gearing up for another big weekend of home fixtures against Southcoast.

For the women it was a chance to confirm its top-two finishing position and even mount a case for the minor premiership, while the men needed to maintain winning form to keep its dream of an unlikely finals berth alive.

But sadly none were possible with all possibility of play pole-axed by coronavirus.

The women’s team was unable to field a side to hit the court due to an abundance of players being sidelined as close contacts or COVID positives.

Meanwhile the men’s side was in a position to play, but its opponents, the Chargers were not and forfeited with COVID related problems as well.

Basketball Mount Gambier development manager Tom Daly said there was nothing to do except play by the rules and call off the games with the problem stemming back to a women’s clash with Warrnambool where a player discovered they had COVID less than 24 hours after the final whistle.

He also said the situation summed up the difficulty hosting events in the current climate.

“Unfortunately it started off with the women’s team who had four or five players catch COVID off the back of the game against Warrnambool a couple of weeks ago,” he said.

“Then there was a training session separate from the CBL that had 10 players on (last) Tuesday night where one of the girls tested positive, so now they are all close contacts.

“This meant we had to forfeit unfortunately because not just our team, but the whole extended squad either have COVID or in isolation.

“Then the men’s Southcoast team were also having problems with COVID and were down on some players.

“They also had to come here on a coach and was playing in Portland the next day, so things just got difficult for them, so they forfeited on Friday afternoon.

“It was not a happy weekend, but the heat could have also played a factor as well because the games were scheduled between 4pm and 6pm.”

It was a tough pill to swallow for the men’s side in particularly which currently sits sixth on the South West ladder, but within touching distance of finals if everything went to plan.

After a torrid start to the season being held back by outside forces, the Lakers armed with Pioneers performers Daly and Kyle Tipene were on fire winning three of their last four games.

However, the Chargers’ forfeit means Mount Gambier’s finals hopes are gone with the fixture being the team’s last of the season as next weekend’s final round is a bye.

Daly said it was going to take a while to get over.

“Unfortunately that is it for us,” he said.

“If the draw is different and we have a couple of games this weekend we would be in business because the way we are rolling we feel we can beat anyone.

“We just went down to the top team Colac after travelling three hours and playing in the heat without Kyle (Tipene).

“If we had another game or two, I am confident we could have sneaked into the finals and then we could have beaten anyone.

“It was just a little bit too late for us to get a consistent group together and get the wins on the board.

“At the start of the season we had a couple of losses and forfeits which have come back to bite us, but it gave us a chance to give some young players a taste, but next year we should be really strong.”

It is not quite dire straits for the women’s team, who can still strut the walk of life with finals on the horizon.

The team coached by Bryan Green has built an impressive portfolio throughout its campaign despite it being riddled with COVID-19.

Mount Gambier is unbeaten in its last four appearances on the floor to be well placed in second spot on the ladder and has built enough of an advantage to maintain its high ground even after the cancellations and byes.

Although the bye could not have arrived at a worse moment for the men, it is a blessing for the women.

But even when finals roll around next month, there is still a possibility the Lakers will not be able to field a side given everyone is stuck at home.

Daly said their health is the paramount concern, but is confident the finals will happen.

“It is lucky we have the bye this weekend because they are second on the ladder and in a good position even with the other teams having one more game to play,” he said.

“Because they did such a good job earlier in the season, they still have some credits in the bank and are still going to finish second and provided everyone is out of isolation this week, we will have a women’s finals game at the Ice House, which will be exciting.

“The health is the priority and we will get to next week to see where everything lies because there may be some apprehension about even playing again from some families due to the flow on effects.”