Cougars Men established themselves as one of the premiership favourites after defeating reigning premier Panthers-Wizards last Wednesday night. Bulldogs are nipping at Cougars’ heels, trailing by percentage in second place  

The contest between Cougars and Wizards was close in the early minutes but the class of Sam Stafford and Kane deWit showed out as Cougars took control. Chris Mason worked tirelessly for Wizards and Nick Morrison again quietly compiled an impressive personal tally, but they did not have an answer. They missed Brad Rathjen’s playmaking and scoring efforts as well.

Cougars set up a 12 point buffer and then maintained it until late in the last quarter when Wizards came back to close the margin to 8, 76-68, at the final siren. Stafford and deWit scored 28 points. Chris Mason on 28 and Morrison on 23 led the scoring for Wizards.

Bulldogs Men too put their name on a double chance after a solid win against Panthers, who have been “punching above their weight” in recent weeks. Matt Berkefeld opened the game with two threes to give Bulldogs a confident start and the lead which they maintained throughout.

Bulldogs led 11-2 before Panthers kicked into gear and had 21-14 on the board at quarter time. State junior Lachlan Hunter stretched the ‘Dogs lead to 12, 36-24 late in the first half. Tyson Kettle closed the margin to just 4 early in the third quarter only to see Simon Berkefeld re-establish a double figure lead. Panthers again got the margin back to single figures with a minute to play but Bulldogs replied for a 75-63 final margin.      

Simon Berkefeld scored a game high 31 points for the victors. He was well supported by Matt Berkefeld on 22. Dylan Bromley on 15 and Camron Jorgenson on 14.

Dellon Brown, Tyson Kettle, Teagan Brown and Jason Humphries all had double figure tallies for Panthers.

The Roos Men’s team of five, which travelled to Millicent found the going tough as the game became a “shoot out”. The home side scored 98 points, their highest for some seasons, while Mark Bachmann and Dion Stratford led the scoring in Roos’ total of 73.

Cougars women quickly took control of their game against Millicent, who were missing several key players. Tenille Gray continued as the “go to” player for Cougars to set up a 10 point margin at the first break. This was extended to 14 at half time and 20 at three quarter time as Melissa Russell showed some of her best form of the season. Millicent matched Cougars in the final quarter, mainly through the consistent efforts of State junior Olivia Fuller, for a score-line of 61-42. Russell scored a game high 26 points and Tenille Gray 20 for Cougars. Fuller finished with 19 and Sarah Allen 12 for Millicent.

A three pointer by Brianna Walters opened the contest between League leader Roos and Panthers, who dominated the first few minutes. Roos however, then had the score board moving for an 18-12 first quarter in which Walters scored 11 points.

Hines then led Roos to close the margin to one at half time and hit the front 33-32 in the opening minute of the second half. Roos maintained this narrow margin in the third quarter and extended it to 3 at the start of the final quarter. From here on Panthers went on a 17-7 run to win 57-50. Tess Carey, a metropolitan player in Mount Gambier on employment placement, played a key role for Panthers, She scored 22 points, Walters had 18 and State junior Brenna McKay 13. Rachael Hines with 19, Malinda Markiewicz 16 and Ashlee Kalantarian 13 scored double figures for Roos.

This week, Round 8, the feature game of the Men’s competition will be the clash between the top two sides Cougars and Bulldogs. Panthers host Millicent and Panthers-Wizards meet Roos in the other games.

Roos travel to Millicent and form side Cougars play Panthers in the Women’s competition of the South East Coast Basketball league.