JUNIOR LAKERS TO COMPETE IN VICTORIAN COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Basketball Victoria Country Council has accepted the nominations of the Lakers Under 16 Boys and Girls and Under 18 Boys’ teams to compete in the Division 1 and 2 Country Victoria 2014 Junior Championships.
These Championships were first conducted way back in 1968 and are considered the premier state competitions for junior basketballers in Australia. Mount Gambier won its first title, Under 18 Boys, in 1976 followed by titles for the Under 18 Girls in 1977 and ’78.The Lakers Under 16 Boys won the title in 1982 and the Under 16 Girls were successful in Division 2 in 1997 and 2011.
The competition begins on Saturday February 22nd with round robins within the four pools. On Sunday the top two in each pool playoff for the Division 1 titles and third and fourth placed teams contest the Division 2 finals.
This year the Lakers Under 18 Boys, under Coach Simon Berkefeld, are quietly confident of making the Division 1 finals series, after outclassing opponents in the Junior Tournaments late last year. The Lakers are led by State representatives Sam Stafford, Stephen Sochacki, Josh Jenner, Braiden Ousey and Brad Rathjen. They meet Championship favourite Bendigo, Corio Bay and Warragul in their pool games, then cross over and play members of a three team pool comprising Traralgon, Wangaratta and Mildura.
In 2012 Bendigo won the Under 16 Boys’ Division 1 championship and promises to be the team to beat in this year’s Under 18 Boys’ competition.
The Lakers Under 16 Boys meet Geelong, Maffra and Wangaratta in their pool games before being ranked to play one of Ballarat, Warrnambool and Traralgon and then into finals.
Coach Ray deWit will be keen to meet Warrnambool in the cross over after the Lakers went down by one to them in the semi-final at Portland.
Bryan Green, Coach of the Lakers Under 16 Girls, will be looking for a strong, sustained performance from his team. Mildura, Wodonga and Sale are their opponents in the pool games. Moe, Southern Peninsula, Bendigo and Echuca make up the cross over pool for the Lakers.
Last year Geelong won the Under 16 Boys and under 18 Girls’ titles while Shepparton took home the Under 18 Girls and Under 16 Boys flags.
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