By JARROD POTTER
THREE Alkira Secondary College students defied the odds to take out a Basketball Victoria 3on3 state championship.
Why were Alkira trio Jordan Gooiker, Arnon Lodder and Ben Lodder up against it?
Firstly all the other teams had four players at their disposal, while Alkira went in to the three-on-three tournament without a bench or any ability to rest throughout the seven-game campaign last month.
Other schools also had basketball academies and specialised coaching at their disposal and to cap it off, Alkira had never participated in this tournament before.
So to fight past all those challenges and claim the state senior boys’ title – in a 21-16 win over Haileybury – left Arnon Lodder immeasurably proud of the underdog team’s achievement to knock off the private school top brass.
“It definitely felt great – we were versing some prestigious schools out there and to take away the title from them is always amazing,” Lodder said.
“Haileybury had some rep players I’ve seen before.
“They had a guy who was already ranked nationally – 6’7″ centre – a lot taller than any of us and when we won, the reaction was quite funny – you could tell they were pretty annoyed.”
All those schoolyard pick-up matches and local basketball seasons paid off handsomely for the Alkira boys, who knew just how to play off each other and shoot away to take the championship.
“We were pretty much already brothers – played together at the school and our chemistry is quite high, especially with our teamwork and right shots we took,” Lodder said.
“Our coach as well – Trent – he kept us poised.
“It’s amazing that in our first time entering the tournament, it was also our first time winning it.”
Alkira coach Trent Smith said the school’s achievement was incredible as they fought back against fatigue and the taller Haileybury players.
“It was great -the boys kept up their effort and intensity throughout the whole game,” Smith said. “We had a time-out towards the end just to calm things down.
The trio wanted to tick the boxes in their final year and the school was more than keen to give them a chance to shine one last time together.
“The boys have been interested in it for the last few years and we didn’t really have the time to do it,” Smith said. “But being the last year for two of them – in Year 12 – it was the last opportunity they had, so they wanted to have a go.”
Alkira is considering its options in the full-court game as well, with Smith confirming the school may participate in the 2015 McDonalds Cup.
The Lodder brothers play for Dandenong and Gooiker plays at Casey Cavaliers.
