ARARAT Redbacks and Colac Kookas have won in the Country Basketball League (CBL) South West men’s competition to secure top three spots in the league at the end of the regular season. The Redbacks finished on top of the table with four wins from four games and 14 points, while the Kookas joined Portland Coasters with a record of 3-1 from their games, but had one less bye than the Coasters.

The Kookas and Warrnambool Seahawks had a thrilling contest that went down to the wire, with the former winning on the road, 84-80. The memorable match had plenty of individual performers, led by a shootout between Jordan Lingard (Colac) and Liam Killey (Warrnambool) who both scored 24 points in the game. Matthew Lloyd (21 points) teamed up well with Lingard in the win, while the Seahawks had a shared load between Matt Rea (14), Benson Steere (11), James Mitchell (11) and Riley Nicolson (10).

Luckily for the Seahawks, the loss did not hurt their finals chances thanks to the undefeated Redbacks comfortably knocking off Terang Tornadoes at home. Ararat defeated Terang 86-57 in the final match of the regular season, to go 4-0 from their matches and top the table. Zac Dunmore and Jaydo Wright both put up 15 points for the winners, while William Hynes contributed 12 in the victory. For the Tornadoes, Scott Judd led the way with 11 points, one more than Griffen McLeod (10).

The Seahawks ended up finishing fourth on the table and have the tough task of trying to take down Ararat Redbacks, while the Coasters and Kookas go head-to-head in the other semi-final. Looking to the bottom of the table, Terang Tornadoes finished fifth with a 1-3 record, while Bellarine Storm went winless from their four games this season.

CBL SOUTH WEST RESULTS:

Warrnambool Seahawks (80) defeated by Coolac Kookas (84)
Ararat Redbacks (86) defeated Terang Tornadoes (57)

Picture credit: Basketball Victoria