Valiant effort in Hornets’ defeat
The Country Basketball League season has drawn to a close after two hard-fought grand finals at Horsham Basketball Stadium, with Horsham Hornets men narrowly falling short of a premiership.
Horsham’s men’s team played out a 12-point grand-final loss to Mt Gambier Lakers, with scores even at 63 heading into the final term.
The Hornets took the ascendancy after a first quarter tussle, building an eight-point lead heading into half-time.
A sold-out crowd of Hornets faithfuls, travelling Lakers supporters and others who had stayed from the earlier women’s game came into its own in the third.
The Lakers were able to claw back the margin completely in what was a highscoring third quarter from both teams to draw level.
Offense was again the name of the game in the final quarter, with the Lakers amassing an impressive 37 points to take out the grand final.
The 2023-24 south-west conference premiers were largely indebted to scorers Simon Berkefeld, 37 points, and Tom Daley, 24, for their 100-point total.
Berkefeld was awarded the grand final’s most valuable player after the game.
Matthew Brown, 25, led the way for the Hornets, with Austin Mckenzie and Mitch Martin both recording 17 points.
It was Damien Skurrie’s last game as a
Hornets player, with the veteran announcing it would be his last season, while Matthew Brown also played his final game before he moves away for work.
Lakers coach Matthew Berkefeld, in his speech after the game, said the Hornets showed they had a lot of good players with a bright future ahead of them.
“It was an incredibly high-standard game. Both teams really stood up when it counted,” he said.
“The thing that made me most proud was our guys who were really challenged in the first half, standing up when it really mattered.
“They made big shots, held their composure and I couldn’t be prouder.” In the earlier women’s game, Portland Coasters defeated the Lakers’ women’s team in a 23-point difference.
The Coasters defeated the Hornets women in the second semi-final earlier this month to advance to the grand final.
Prior to grand final day, Hornets Austin Mckenzie, Ema Iredell and Liv Jones were selected in the south-west conference all-star five teams in the men’s and women’s competitions.
Cody Bryan and Maddison Iredell were named defensive player of the year in each competition, showing the Hornets’ defensive prowess in the league.