The Lakers 2015/16 Junior Lakers’ teams made a most promising start to the Tournament season last weekend at Murray Bridge. Eleven teams travelled to the Riverside town to compete in the opening Junior Basketball Carnival.

 Eight of the eleven Lakers competing teams played off in Grand finals, Under 18 Men and Women, Under 12, and 14 Girls, Under 16 Division 1 and 2 Girls, Under 14 Boys Div.1 and Under 12 Boys. Five were successful, the Under 18 Men, Under 16 Girls div. 1 and 2, Under 12 Girls and Boys.

Bryan Green guided the Lakers Under 18 Men to a successful win in the Murray Bridge Junior Carnival. They maintained an unbeaten record and capped off the weekend with a win over Beastmode, a composite team from metropolitan based Centrals, in the grand final. Final scores were 47-38.

The Lakers Under 16 Girls set the bench mark for the division 1 competition of the Carnival through productive team work and strong efforts. They finished the weekend with a convincing grand final win of 31-15 over host Association Murray Bridge. Murray Bridge, Strathalbyn and Yorke Valley were locked in a three way tie for the second grand final spot at the end of the minor round. Dan Stratford is Coach of this talented side.     

The Under 16 Division 2 Girls experienced a steep learning curve over the weekend. Despite the three team competition, the Lakers won an exciting grand final, 22-18, against Strathalbyn. Liz Markiewicz was in charge of this enthusiastic squad.

The Under 12 Girls’ Lakers team, coached by Peter Duncan, was clearly the best team in this division and scored comfortable wins in their minor round games. They maintained their unbeaten record with a 40-15 grand final win over Great Southern.

The Lakers’ Under 12 Boys thrived on their marathon weekend of pressure basketball. They won six of their seven games and reversed their 10 point minor round loss to Centrals with an exciting one point “come from behind” win, 33-32, in the grand final. Coach Robbie Young was impressed with his team’s performances over the weekend

The Lakers Under 18 Women were considered unlucky in their one point grand final loss, 31-32, to Millicent. On reflection the result is most encouraging for the Lakers’ players and Coach Sharon Adams because the preparations of the two teams are in stark contrast to each other. The Millicent team has been training as a unit since April and finished runner-up in the domestic Winter SECBL season while the Lakers women came together a few days before competing in Murray Bridge. 

Coach of the Under 14 Lakers girls, Michelle Whitehead, was particularly pleased with the efforts of her players in this first junior event of the season. They drew with Eastern Hills on Sunday and then met them again in the grand final. It was a very exciting affair in which the hardworking Lakers lost by 2, 24-26, to a tall and experienced side.

The Lakers Under 14 Boys Division 1 team also made very pleasing progress to the extent of playing off against a classy Yorke Valley side in the grand final. The Lakers trailed by just 6 at half time and then lost 24-37, after some brief lapses in application. The opposition Coach commended the Lakers players on their improvement over the weekend.

 Brad Rathjen, now training with the Adelaide 36ers, suited up with Murray Bridge in the Under 23 Men’s competition and scored a 10 point grand final win against Strathalbyn.

The Lakers Under 18 Div.2 Men, Under 16 Boys and Under 14 Boys Div.2 all made solid progress and gained experience as a result of competing in the Murray Bridge Carnival. The Under 16 Boys won two games and lost three to finish fourth while the Under 18 Men finished sixth and the Under 14 Boys a competitive fifth.

The teams and coaches are now preparing for the Millicent Junior Tournament being played over the weekend of October 24^th and 25^th.