21st August 2011| The Daily Mercury

THERE were scenes of sheer jubilation as the iconic Queen rock anthem “We Are The Champions” filled the air of Candlestick Park on Saturday night.

The Crater simply “erupted” after the final buzzer signalled the start of ecstatic post-match celebrations for the McDonald’s Meteors to mark their historic QBL men’s championship triumph against the Rockhampton Rockets.

The Meteors capped off an outstanding 2011 season campaign on the back of a 100-82 point triumph.

It was a proud Meteors coach, Grant Kruger, who spoke to the Daily Mercury in his post-match interview.

“A fantastic effort ... the boys really stood up,” he said.

“A close game early again, but they got out to that 20 point lead.

“To be able to do that on a team like Rockhampton just shows the quality of our guys.”

Players embraced each other and fans stood as one as the final seconds of the championship decider drew to a close.

Kruger could not hide his sense of pride as the players were swamped by appreciative fans.

“You can’t do any better,” he said.

“You can’t ask for any better.

“You can’t ask for a better game from the home team in front of their crowd. To win by 18 points in the end and to have that 20 point buffer ...”

The championship triumph meant a lot to many people.

“Not only the team, but the people of Mackay,” he said.

“We have the best support and the best sponsors in the whole of Queensland Basketball.

“So for Mackay to finally get that men’s QBL title it does definitely mean something.

“Also give the credit to the guys because they did all the hard work out there.”

The Meteors opened Saturday night’s decider with a starting five which comprised Matt Gange, Deba George, Rhys Martin, centre Michael Kingma and Tim Coenraad.

Peter Duck, Sam Bartolo, Luke Harvey, Matthew Pratt and Brad Rasmussen also enjoyed court time as the decider unfolded.

The Rockets’ starting five consisted of Mitch Philip, Travis Reed, Peni Nasalo, Stephen Weigh and centre Pero Vasiljevic.

Martin led the scoring for the Meteors with a game-high 25 points, while grand final MVP George (24) and Coenraad (24) were also influential when within scoring range.

George was again hot from beyond the three-point arc with six three-pointers included in his total.

Kingma was also a tower of strength with 15 points ... seven of which came in the second quarter.

He brought the crowd to its collective feet when he sank a three-pointer from way down town ... it was one of many highlights to be savoured by the local crowd.

The crowd also warmly acknowledged every basket made by Rasmussen on his way to eight points.

The Rockets were best served in the point scoring department by “man mountain” Vasiljeric, who completed a busy night with 20 points.

Weigh (17), Philip (15), Reed (15) and Nasalo (11) were other prominent contributors.

But the night belonged to the Meteors, who have now etched their names into Mackay Basketball folklore.