Berkefeld does it again

THE SECBL Grand Final roadshow headed to the Peter Seebohm Basketball Stadium, well hosted by the Millicent Association, earlier this month, proving to be a fitting end to the premier summer regional basketball competitions.

The night showcased high playing standards and excitement with the men’s premiership up for grabs right up to the final seconds.

The Men’s Final, which saw Cougars taking on Bulldogs, was a game of high intensity and emotion, skill, aggressive defence, strong rebounding and superb outside shooting.

Cougars trailed by one at quarter time but then led by four at the main break, after a tough seesawing period.

Cougars managed to extend the margin to six through consistent team efforts leading into the final 10 minutes.

Toby deWit and his team answered Bulldogs’ challenges but then a down town three from Simon Berkefeld levelled the scores on 84 points and triggered a surge.

From here on it was vintage Berkefeld as he took control and led his team on a 14-4 run to record a 98-88 win.

Named the grand final MVP, Berkefeld was a leading contributor for the first three quarters, then took the game by the scruff of the neck in the final minutes to secure another premiership for Bulldogs.

deWit had an outstanding summer season of basketball and was unsurprinsgly rewarded with the season MVP honour.

His consistently high personal tallies along with his on-court leadership, resulted in Cougars finishing minor premier and deWit recorded nine first preference votes and recorded votes in 12 of the 15 rounds of the season.

Bulldog’s Shaun Lock finished runner up.

The playing coach of Bulldogs, Shaun Lock had a stand out season, guiding his team to second place and following up with a premiership.

Roos young gun Sam Baron wook home the Bill Cook Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best junior in the SECBL competition.

Baron enjoyed an impressive season as the ‘go to’ player for Roos this season and his silky skills and shooting accuracy were foremost in Roos’ performances.

Cougars made a confident start to the Women’s Grand Final, shooting with high accuracy and continued to dominate in the second quarter, setting up a 20-point margin by the main break, giving the visitors a firm grip on the result.

In contrast, Cats struggled to score at their usual percentage then facing defensive challenges at the defensive end.

The untimely injury to team leader Edie Easterby not only dented the team’s chances, but also devastated teammates.

Midway through the third quarter, Cats’ coach Matt Faulkner threw caution to the wind in extending team defence and demanding a lift in intensity.

Cats responded, out scoring Cougars 41 to 30, and trailed by 15 points at the final siren.

Cougars’ Shayden Russell, in scoring a game high 20 points and being effective in defence, earned the MVP for the Grand Final Award.

Russell also took home the season MVP award, with Saints and Pioneers player Poppy Venn finishing runner up.

Russell completed an outstanding SECBL season, regularly leading the scoring for Cougars and playing effective shut down defence on key opponents.Venn was in top shooting form early, but then missed games because of injuries in the later weeks of the season.

The Sally-Jane Allen/Trisha Flett Memorial Trophy for the best juniors in the senior competition was shared by Cats teammates Emily Denton (Cats) and Livvi Faulkner (Cats).

Denton completed an impressive season in which she showed improvement every week and she clearly has the potential to be a key player inside in the future,

Under 16 player Faulkner is talented in her age group and handled the step up to the senior level very well.

Her strengths include her outside shooting and tenacious defence.

RESULTS

MenBulldogs 98 (Simon Berkefeld 34, Shaun Lock 25, Sam Lock 14)d Cougars 88 ((Frazer Bradley 19, Jacob Sim 15, Toby deWit 14)Grand Final MVP:Simon Berkefeld (Bulldogs)Season MVP:Toby deWit (Cougars)Bill Cook Memorial Trophy (Best Junior Player):Sam Baron (Roos)WomenCougars 79 (Shayden Russell 20, Casey Horrigan 19, Olivia Wormald 18) d Cats 65 (Claire Mitchell 18, Piper Paul 16, Livvi Faulkner 13)Grand Final MVP:Shayden Russell (Cougars)Season MVP:Shayden Russell (Cougars)Sally-Jane Allen/Trisha Flett Memorial Trophy (Best Junior Player):Emily Denton (Cats) & Livvi Faulkner (Cats)