Basketball
28 November, 2025
Hornets meet Lakers in semifinal
Less than a week after defeating Mount Gambier in a thrilling final round encounter, the Horsham Hornets men’s side will take on the Lakers again on Saturday for a spot in the Country Basketball League grand final.
The Hornets play the semifinal clash at Bern Bruning Basketball Stadium in Mount Gambier at 6.30pm ACDT.
The Lakers were a force throughout the regular season, averaging over 112 points per game on their way to finishing first through the eight regular rounds.
After two first-round losses, the Hornets’ fast-paced offence quickly evolved as the side recorded seven wins and one loss to finish the regular season.
Despite the tough matchup, Hornets coach Scott Benbow knows his side has what it takes to prevail, having defeated Mount Gambier 113-111 in round eight.
“We’re confident we can beat them, but we know they’re not going to give it to us; we’re going to have to go and take it off them,” Benbow said.
“They’re the best team and if we want to be the best, we have to beat the best, so to speak.
“We saw them play on Sunday, so we’ll have a strong plan of how they played against us.
“They were missing one, we were missing one in Levi Munyard, so we think that it’s going to be very evenly poised.
“Our advantage will probably be our height, so we'll try and expose that a little bit too.
“Probably being a little bit younger as well, we'll try and run the floor and tire out their veterans like Simon Berkefeld, who looked like he was starting to tire a little bit in that last quarter.”
The Lakers have plenty of firepower with their long-range shooting, including their leading scorer, Taj Brumby, who hit six three-pointers in last Sunday’s clash.
Benbow knows that minimising their quality opportunities at goal will be critical, believing the Hornets can put in an improved defensive performance.
“We have to improve on our help defence, I didn't think it was fantastic on Sunday,” Benbow said.
“The plus is we rebounded pretty well, even though we did give them a few looks that we shouldn't have.
“We'll just make sure that we're tied up on those fronts, so that they don't get second chance points and make sure we contest their shots.”
Micah Livingtone looms as a key piece for the Hornets with his scoring and size, finishing the season as the league’s fourth-highest scorer.
Horsham also enters the semifinal coming off their best set of shooting performances, with seven players hitting three-point shots across their two round eight games.
Benbow said his team is motivated to defeat the Lakers again, particularly with Horsham hosting the grand final.
“They've all watched the game, they all know where we can improve,” Benbow said.
“So I think the growth will come inside themselves, and it won't take too much from me. “Having the home grand final on the line too, knowing that if we’re good enough to win this weekend, that we get to play a home final in front of a Horsham crowd, that's a huge motivation for us.”