Mount Gambier’s junior basketballers were awarded the prestigious SA Country Basketball John Spooner Trophy for 2015 after the completion of the Under 12’s and 16’s SA Country Junior Basketball Championships two weekends ago.

This award goes to the most successful Association competing in Division 1 of the 8 age groups, Under 12, 14, 16 and 18 Boys and Girls.

This Award was set up to acknowledge the significant contribution John Spooner has made to SA Country Basketball over many years. He was Manager of the first ever SA Country Under 18 Men’s representative team which played in the 1975 National Championships.

The class performances of the Lakers Under 18 in winning the Division 1 title for the fourth year in succession and the agonising 2 point grand final loss by the Under 18 Women, saw the Lakers have one hand on the Spooner silverware. The Lakers Under 14 Division 1 boys’  and girls’ teams  each came home with 2 wins to give the Lakers a handy lead going into the Under 12’s and 16’s Championships.

The Lakers’ Under 16 team was the best performed Lakers’ Division 1 team of the weekend. They lost the Grand Final by three to an aggressive Whyalla. The Lakers Under 16 Boys had a consistent championships and recorded 2 wins in the tough Division 1 competition.

The Lakers Under 12 Girls played with a typical enthusiasm to also score 2 wins.

These overall results gave the Lakers 22 wins followed by Eastern Hills on 14 and brings the Spooner Trophy to the home of the Lakers for the fifth time in eight years.