Basketball On The Internet.

THE Waikerie Community Sports Centre will host a basketball bonanza on the first weekend of March with the inaugural "Roundball River Rumble".

Scheduled for March 4-5, three South Australian Premier League Clubs – Southern Tigers (defending men's champion), Central District Lions and Eastern Mavericks - will be joined by Melbourne-based Big V club Keilor Thunder and the best South Australian junior State teams (SA Country & SA Metropolitan). 

Southern is where Utah Jazz NBA swingman and triple-Olympian Joe Ingles (pictured) launched his career as a junior.

This is the first time an event of this nature has been scheduled at Waikerie and harkens back to the days the region fielded Riverland Raiders teams in both men's and women's SA Premier League competitions.

Riverland's men hosted Centrals in November, with the Lions winning 84-62.

Excluding NBL, WNBL and SEABL - which are national and interstate-based leagues - the Premier League is the pinnacle competition in South Australia.

It is the competition the state's juniors strive to play in, and the pathway many great South Australian players, coaches and officials have starred in along their way to success in the national leagues and for our national teams.

Similarly Victoria's Big V competition has the best from the Garden State going at it each week over the winter.

The Under-18 State Junior teams (Country & Metropolitan) will use this tournament as preparation for the Under-18 Australian Championships in Townsville in April.

Basketball fans will be able to see up to 14 games of top quality basketball all in the one place over the two days.

The big bonus is families and supporters are able to make the trip to the Riverland as it is only two hours from Adelaide.