The Chemist King Mount Gambier Lakers keep striving from strength to strength in the 2021/22 Country Basketball League after another productive weekend across both sides.
With all players taking to the floor in bright orange socks in support of the CBL Lifeline Mental Health Round of the South West men’s and women’s season, the Lakers returned to the Icehouse.
The Saturday night doubleheader against the Portland Coasters was in serious doubt due to the sudden announcement of a COVID-19 positive test among Mount Gambier’s women’s opponents from the week before.
Basketball Mount Gambier’s response was closing and cleaning the entire Bern Bruning Stadium complex in the immediate aftermath, while anyone who attended the venue on game day was encouraged to get tested if symptoms arise.
Fortunately, the coronavirus scare was overcome and the Lakers returned the court within a week.
However, it still left a significant mark on the women’s team sheet with six inclusions to the playing squad.
Only half of the eight players who hit the court against Warrnambool – Mikaela Horrigan, Tenielle Human, Sophie Miles and Keryl Ousey – were able to retain their places as six newcomers entered the fray.
Despite the team’s state of flux, the names coming in were all high quality with Pioneers captain Jasmin Howe joined by team mates Johanna Jones, Maddy and Olivia Wormald, plus younger Lakers Macey Griffith and Cara Nulty.
The numerous changes did not seem to impact Mount Gambier’s cohesion on the floor over the long run as it recorded a seventh victory in eight games.
However, it was no walk in the park on Sunday night after the Coasters came to play and stunned the home crowd early.
Nicola Handreck and Alana Strom hit the court hard shooting points to give Portland an early lead, while its defensive setup also looked formidable gaining numerous turnovers.
But once the new-look Lakers found their feet and connection, the tide quickly turned.
Portland started to crumble under Mount Gambier’s increasing pressure as the visitors ran into foul trouble.
The errors gave the Lakers countless opportunities to score and suddenly all of Portland’s hard work was undone.
It provided an easy doorway to opportunity for Mount Gambier to get back into the game and the scoreboard was neck and neck as quarter time approached.
After a hectic finish, Howe showcased her years of experience by slotting a buzzer beater to give the hosts a hard-earned one-point lead.
The significant shot created enough momentum for Mount Gambier to bounce into the second term with plenty of confidence.
The likes of Howe, Ousey, Miles and the Wormalds were in their element as the Lakers controlled a high-scoring second term.
Mount Gambier surged into a commanding lead with a 26-point second term, before consolidating the advantage even further by doubling Portland’s third-quarter tally.
Suddenly the Lakers enjoyed a comfortable 22-point lead heading into the final term where the Coasters found a small sense of belief.
However, Mount Gambier was too clinical and had an answer for everything.
The hosts edged out the honours in a hard-fought final term to wrap up a comfortable 74-50 triumph.
Howe led from the front collecting 18 points, while Ousey also starred shooting 16 as all 10 players made important contributions.
The performance is another strong sign of the squad’s depth as it prepares to host the Surfcoast Chargers in another home game this Saturday afternoon.
Mount Gambier will enter that clash confident of more glory with the Chargers having only scored a solitary win this summer.
The Lakers men had double the workload playing back-to-back games either side of the border.
The weekend started in incredible fashion when Mount Gambier launched a stunning assault to steal the opening game of the Mental Health round away from Portland.
The Lakers suffered a slow start as the Coasters were sharp at both ends of the court to extract a seven-point lead in the first quarter.
Despite squaring the second term, a Mount Gambier team armed with Pioneers players Tom Daly and Kyle Tipene struggled to keep up with the visitors at the commencement of the second half.
After being outscored yet again in the third term, the Lakers were staring down the barrel of a fifth defeat of the season as Portland was led by the likes of Nathan Hardingham and Toby Oakley.
But this time Mount Gambier was not prepared to throw in the towel and launched a stunning resurgence.
Powered by Pioneers duo Daly and Tipene who finished with the amazing tallies of 32 and 22 points respectively, the Lakers went on the charge scoring a crazy 36 points in the final term.
Mount Gambier outscored the Coasters by 20 points during the breath-taking passage of play which was enough to overwhelm the visitors and win 81-73 to the delight of the home fans.
Less than 12 hours later the Lakers were forced to take on the daunting task of travelling to Colac at 8am to meet the Kookas.
Despite missing star guard Tipene, Mount Gambier did its best to overcome the ladder leaders.
Thanks to Daly’s 34-point haul and fine efforts from Sam Stafford and Jordan Hollitt, the Lakers held the high ground heading into the final term.
But after fighting valiantly, Colac had more in the tank as Joshua Fiegert and Jake O’Flynn led the home side to a cracking eight-point victory.
The up and down weekend means Mount Gambier still has a load of work to do to climb up the ladder with two wins the difference between it and finals.
The first step in the comeback will be safely negotiating another home game against the similarly placed Southcoast side.
