After COVID-19 tore up all of last summer’s plans, the Chemist King Mount Gambier Lakers have completed a long-awaited return to the Country Basketball League in recent weeks.

Border restrictions meant the 2020/21 CBL was impossible to play, but with the gateway between South Australia and Victoria open, the high-level competition has returned.

The Lakers have battled hard on both sides of the border in the South West men’s and women’s competitions across the opening series of matches.

The regional town v town contest has proven to be a challenging one for the men, while the women have started positively despite things out of their control impacting their ability to get on court.

Mount Gambier’s women’s team has never won a CBL South West title, but has started its 2021/22 campaign on the front foot.

The Lakers were full of energy in their comeback game across the border with Portland.

Spectators were kept on the edge of their seats as both teams traded blows in entertaining basket-to-basket basketball.

After four thrilling quarters Mount Gambier emerged victorious by a slender five points.

Scoring a win in the season opener gave the Lakers plenty of confidence to attack Terang at full force.

The Tornadoes were taken out by Mount Gambier’s class and precision and battled to mount a significant challenge.

The Lakers were at their best cruising to a thumping 102-46 win.

Mount Gambier kept the good times rolling when it rained on Surfcoast’s parade in the second round.

The Coasters graced their new home base – Wurdi Baierr Stadium – for the first time and their faithful fans were desperate to celebrate win on debut.

However, the Lakers ruined any hope of a fairytale with an eye-catching performance.

Olivia Wormald (18 points) and Ambah Beveridge (13 points) were standout to lead Mount Gambier to a commanding 79-49 victory.

Mikaela Horrigan, Sophie Miles and Emily Dawe also made valuable contributions scoring double figures, while Surfcoast’s top performer was Sienna McCumber with 15 points.

Having dominated on the road, the Lakers’ women received their toughest task on home turf.

Mount Gambier met a determined Horsham Hornets outfit at the Ice House on Sunday and the heat was on from tip off.

Both sides traded baskets in the opening stages to enter the first break separated by a solitary point with the visitors in front.

However, the Lakers were in no mood of letting their home base get ambushed so easily and launched a stunning counter-attack after quarter time.

Mount Gambier was on fire, hardly giving the Hornets a sniff of possession in the second term.

The Lakers scored three times the amount of points as Horsham in the dominant passage of play to enjoy a solid 11-point lead at the main break.

Although Horsham clawed back some ground in a more evenly-fought third term, Mount Gambier still sat with a comfortable 47-33 lead as the fourth quarter beckoned.

However, the visitors were not going down without a fight and kept the hosts worried closing the margin deep into single figures in the dying stages.

But the Lakers remained calm and closed out the game to win by eight points and complete a perfect run to Christmas.

Mount Gambier sits third on the ladder amongst the flag favourites and resumes its pursuit for glory with a doubleheader against Horsham and Warrnambool in the second weekend of January with the latter a home game at the Ice House.

Despite winning six of the last eight South West men’s titles, the Lakers were sitting last on the seven-team ladder with just one win on the board.

However, the team could be on course towards turning its campaign around following an uplifting win over the Horsham Hornets on Sunday.

Just one day after returning from a restrictions impacted road trip to Portland to play the Colac Kookas, Mount Gambier was keen to turn up the heat at the Ice House.

The Lakers were bouncing in their first home round of the season and hit the ground running in a fast first quarter, gaining a 26-22 lead after play went from basket to basket.

The hosts then dominated the second term to increase its lead to 15 points before keeping it steady in the penultimate quarter.

With a 70-56 point lead heading into the fourth and final term, Mount Gambier just had to hold its nerve.

Fortunately for the home crowd the Lakers held off the Hornets’ last-gasp effort to secure a vital victory by 16 points.

It arrived at the right time for Mount Gambier and was the perfect response to Horsham.

A week earlier the Lakers embarked on a road trip to the Hornets’ home nest and struggled to string together a four-quarter effort.

The hosts extracted a double-figure lead in the opening half before Mount Gambier clawed some momentum back.

The Lakers claimed a tightly fought third quarter by four points, but could not overhaul Horsham.

The home side stood tall under the basket in the final minutes to run out 79-66 victors.

Biting back at the Hornets in the rematch was critical for Mount Gambier’s season after nightmare return to the CBL.

The Lakers have suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the season opener where they fell two points short of victory to the Portland Coasters.

The second round was a low point when the Lakers were forced to forfeit their battle with contest with Surfcoast.

The forfeit followed another single-point loss to Terang.

Mount Gambier was forced to pay for a poor start as the Tornadoes wrapped up a nine-point triumph.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions the Lakers’ contest against the Colac Kookas was scheduled to be Ice House, but was moved to Portland and was eventually cancelled on Saturday.

The mixed bag start to the season leaves the Mount Gambier men on the bottom of the ladder heading into the festive season break.

But the Lakers are carrying some momentum from the breakthrough win over Horsham and eyes more success in another home fixture at the Ice House against the third-placed Warrnambool Seahawks on Sunday, January 9.