Bumping Road Trip to Tasmania
June 5th 2017
The GMHBA Ballarat Miners travelled to Tasmania sitting second on the South Conference ladder with the chance to take top spot and continue their three game winning streak. While the Ballarat Skoda Rush went searching for their first win on arguably the toughest road trip of the competition.
The Miners departed Ballarat at 6:30am on Friday morning headed for North West Tasmania to take on the Thunder who have had an inconsistent season sitting with four wins and eight losses before the weekend which included a big win against Geelong in Geelong a couple of weekends before.
The Miners started the game well and trailed by just four points half way through the first quarter 13-17 before the Thunder went on a 7-17 scoring rampage to end the term to be leading the game by 14 at the first break.
The Miners re-grouped after the break and won the second and the third quarter by three points each cutting the margin to eight at the final break.
The final term saw the Miners continue their good form from the second and third quarter and saw them get within one point with three minutes remaining but with some of the Miners final shots missing the Thunder took the lead back out and ended with a seven point win 78-85.
Key Stats
| GMHBA Ballarat Miners | PTS | REB | AS | ST |
| Craig Moller | 18 | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Marvin King-Davis | 15 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Cam McCallum | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Hooley | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| North West Tasmania | ||||
| A. Starks | 30 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Ingram | 16 | 11 | 6 | 1 |
| B. Richmond | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Sepokas | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
While the GMHBA Ballarat Miners enjoyed a Saturday off and got enjoy some sightseeing on the trip from the North West to the South East the Ballarat Skoda Rush departed Ballarat at 6:30am just the like the Miners the day before.
The Rush took on Launceston Tornadoes who were looking to avoid a third straight loss and keep their hands on the Madeline Howard Memorial Shield. The Rush started the game strong like many of their games this season and led the Tornadoes by two points at the quarter time break 20-18.
The Rush have struggled after quarter time in most games this year, and it appeared this game was going to be no different with the Tornadoes taking the lead by nine points just three minutes into the second. But the Rush rallied and only trailed by two at the main break 40-42.
The third quarter saw the Rush come out firing with Jaterra Bonds and Kristy Rinaldi hitting the score board and taking the lead into the final quarter by five 62-57.
The final quarter saw the Rush drop away and give up the lead and the game with Lauren Mansfield playing an incredible game for the Tornadoes with 17 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists and five steals, helping her team get over the line by seven points 81-74.
Key Stats
| Ballarat Skoda Rush | PTS | REB | AS | ST |
| Jaterra Bonds | 21 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Ashleigh Spencer | 18 | 7 | 4 | 1 |
| Kristy Rinaldi (C) | 17 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| J. Burke | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Launceston | ||||
| L. Nicholson | 21 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| T. Roberts | 21 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| L. Mansfield (C) | 17 | 9 | 11 | 5 |
| J. Brazendale | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
The Skoda Ballarat Rush travelled the two and a half hour trip to Hobart straight after the Launceston game as they had to front up again on Sunday for a 12noon tip off against the Lady Chargers.
The Lady Chargers were sitting fifth on the ladder with six wins and four losses and looking to extend their three game winning streak. With the Rush coming off a hard game and a road trip the night before it was always going to be a tough game for the Rush.
Similar to the night before the Rush got off to a great start against the Lady Chargers, hitting the score board and keeping Hobart to under 20 points to take a 10 point lead into the first break 29-19.
The Rush came out in the second and continued on from the first quarter leading by as much as 17 points during the quarter, but the Chargers trailed by 14 at the main break.
The Rush didn’t stop at half time and in their best game of the season came out in the third quarter and continued to pile on the points while holding the Lady Charges at bay with a 22-14 quarter giving them at lead of 22 points heading into the final 10 minutes.
The final quarter saw the Rush grind the game out, the closest the Lady Chargers got to the Rush was 16, and despite the Hobart winning the quarter 22-18 the Rush gained their first win on the season by 18 points on the road.
Key Stats
| Ballarat Skoda Rush | PTS | REB | AS | ST |
| Joy Burke | 26 | 14 | 2 | 2 |
| Jaterra Bonds | 23 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Ashleigh Spencer | 19 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Kristy Rinaldi (C) | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Molly Mathews | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Hobart | ||||
| K. Scheer (C) | 22 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| A. Ciabattoni | 19 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| I. Morgan | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| K. McCauley | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
While the GMHBA Ballarat Miners enjoyed their rest day on Saturday the boys faced the Chargers Sunday hoping to even up the road trip and leave Tasmania 1-1 for the weekend.
The game started in a similar fashion to the game on Friday night with the Miners giving up 33 points in the first quarter while only managing to score 17 of their own giving the Hobart Chargers a 16 point lead at quarter time.
The second quarter was a much tighter affair the Miners got the margin down to 11 during the term but Hobart wouldn’t go away and stretched their lead out to 20 at the main break 57-37.
The Miners went out in third quarter and started to peg back the lead and with some solid defence and putting on the points the Miners got within six points before heading into the final break nine points down 63-72.
The final term saw the Miners grind out the game against a tough opposition but they could only get within two points with two minutes to go, before eventually going down by eight 95-81.
Key Stats
| GMHBA Ballarat Miners | PTS | REB | AS | ST |
| Davon Usher | 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Peter Hooley (C) | 14 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Ash Constable | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Sam Short | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Craig Moller | 12 | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| Hobart | ||||
| M. Muo | 26 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| C. Whitehead | 21 | 7 | 4 | 1 |
| B. Radcliffe (C) | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| T. Masunda | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| F. Gehrich | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
Both the GMHBA Ballarat Miners and Ballarat Skoda Rush will enjoy the Long-Weekend bye round off before another double header the weekend after.
Saturday June 17:
Skoda Ballarat Rush vs Hobart @ MARS MINERDOME 6:00pm
GMHBA Ballarat Miners vs Hobart @ MARS MINERDOME 8:00pm
Sunday June 18:
Skoda Ballarat Rush vs Sandringham @ Nunn Media Basketball Centre 12:30pm
GMHBA Ballarat Miners vs Sandringham @ Nunn Media Basketball Centre 14:30pm
For more information on the GMHBA Ballarat Miners, Ballarat Skoda Rush or McDonalds Youth League teams please contact Elite Teams Administrator Melissa Thomas via 5330 7604 or Melissa.Thomas@ballaratbasketball.com