Mount Gambier basketballers arrived en masse in Murray Bridge on the weekend for the annual tournament to kick off the Country Basketball League season in SA.
The Mount Gambier Lakers took 14 teams to compete, with all teams taking part in an action-packed weekend of competition.
UNDER 12
The Under 12 Boys competed in Pool A against tough competition.
In the first game the side lost to Great Southern Slammers 40-14, followed by another loss to Strathalbyn Storm 37-26.
The boys were in high spirits still and had their last game before finals on Sunday morning, recording another loss 52-19.
The team played its last game in the semi finals against Division 2 side Great Southern Slammers, where they went down in a close match 30-25.
The Under 12 girls also had a tough tournament, recording just the solitary win over Division 2 side Great Southern Slammers, 11-10.
Indiana Renko and Austin May were the leading scorers for the side.
UNDER 14
The Under 14 Division 1 boys had a great start to the tournament with a 27-point win over Millicent Magic 48-21, backed up with a one-point win over Great Southern Slammers 39-38 and another over Murray Bridge Bullets, 30-29.
The team suffered a hard loss to Yorke Valley 29-9 before notching up another one-point win against Strathalbyn Storm, 40-39.
Unfortunately a loss to Eastern Hills Hornets knocked them out of the grand final match.
Lakers Gold in Division 2 started with a three-point win over Great Southern Slammers, 33-30, before recording a two-point win over Murray Bridge Bullets Team A, 21-19.
The side lost to the Eastern Hills Hornets 60-11 which was quickly forgotten with a 35-point win over Millicent Magic, which got them to the semi finals where they suffered a loss to the Naracoorte Kings 55-33.
Lakers Blue unfortunately had a harder tournament with no wins to their name, however they did make it into the semi finals.
Under 14 Divison 1 girls were unable to record a win, with the task made more difficult by tall defender and sharpshooter Lila Pearson enduring a sprained wrist during the tournament.
The team was unable to make the finals despite only going down by two points to the Eastern Hills Hornets.
The Under 14 Division 2 girls also endured a rough tournament, recording double digit losses to each of its opposition sides.
Albert Peters (Division 1 Boys), Taj White (Division 2 Boys Gold), Harvey Virtanen (Division 2 Boys Blue), Jenna Baron (Division 1 Girls) and Hallie Sealey (Division 2 girls) were the leading scorers for their sides.
UNDER 16
The Under 16 Division 1 boys proved a dominant force in the tournament with huge wins over Yorke Valley, Strathalbyn Storm, Great Southern Slammers, Eastern Hills Hornets and Murray Bridge Bullets sending them into the grand final where they defeated the Hornets 50-37.
Under 16 Division 2 boys played their first game against the Hornets and claimed the win 59-28, followed with another win over the Naracoorte Kings Blue, 32-22.
They had an upset two-point loss against the Great Southern Slammers 35-33, before bouncing back for a one-point win over Bullets 38-37.
They lost to an impressive Naracoorte Kings A side 34-13, but bounced back with a win over Strathalbyn Storm 39-31.
Under 16 Division 1 girls started their competition with a six-point loss to Millicent Magic 29-23 but later had a win over the Bullets 48-24.
This was followed by an upset one-point loss to Naracoorte Kings 33-32. They later drew even with Yorke Valley 20 all, however several missed shots towards the end of the match prevented them from making the grand final.
The Under 16 Division 2 girls had an exciting tournament and claimed their first win over Great Southern Slammers 27-18, before an even bigger win over Storm 42-20.
They recorded their first loss against the Eastern Hills Hornets 24-21, but made the semi finals with a six-point win over Great Southern Slammers to once again meet the Hornets in the decider.
The grand final was a physical encounter, with the Lakers side going down 39-10.
Ben Copping (Division 1 Boys), Hudson Croser (Division 2 Boys), Shayden Russell (Division 1 Girls) and Mischa Human (Division 2 Girls) were the leading scorers.
UNDER 18
The Under 18 Division 1 Boys played well with a high-scoring win over Storm 58-26, followed with another win over Murray Bridge Bullets 53-41.
The boys had their first loss against the Hornets 54-38, but redeemed themselves with a 29-point win over Yorke Valley.
The sside faced off against the Hornets again but got this time had the upper hand with a last-minute six point win 56-50.
The Division 2 boys had a scrappy first win over the Naracoorte Kings 28-26 followed with an 11-point loss to the Hornets 41-30, before recording a four point loss to the Bullets 35-31.
The boys then had a big win over Strathalbyn Storm 53-28, but it wasn’t enough to make the grand final.
The Under 18 girls played well throughout the tournament with only two losses, putting the side in a grand final position where they ran out eventual winners.
Mackye Baron (Division 1 Boys), Seth Fraser (Division 2 Boys) and Ava Collins (Division 1 Girls) were the leading scorers for their sides.
The young basketballers are now looking forward to the annual Millicent tournament which will be an action packed event layed later this month.
