GMHBA Ballarat Miners defeat Bendigo Braves in an impressive season opener.
Kasey Cornwell
The Miners came out strong against Bendigo and were able to control and maintain that pressure all game to come out with a 10 point victory. Miners co-captain and game MVP Roy Booker lead the team with an impressive 24 points, 10 assists and 4 steals, while new import Kodi Augustus also impressed with a total of 23 points and 7 rebounds.
Miners Guard Anthony Fisher, who finished the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds said that the side was ready to go from the start, and this may have surprised Bendigo. What he was really pleased about though was the side’s ability to maintain the lead to the end.
New addition to the line-up, Everard Bartlett was impressed that he and the side were able to match the intensity of the Braves and kept their composure at the same time. This is testament to the quality of our players,being able to control the game from start to finish. Coach Eric Hayes was extremely happy with the physicality but believes the team also played very smart and well together
The Miners were very effective on the offensive end and Fisher says this is testimony to good shot selection and their ability to find the open man. This is something the guys have been working on in training, so that is a verification of the hard work the team has been putting in behind the scene. Bartlett also agreed that the ball movement to those shots was incredible. The team has players that can definitely knock down the big shots, and it’s just a matter of getting the space to shoot them.
The Miners were ahead on the board very early on and Hayes did not want to keep the game at such a high tempo all game. Hayes was impressed at how the team managed to slow it down a little bit and play smart offensively. “I like the way that they worked together, they were finding each other and looking for each other”, this is proof that the team works well together and players like Roy Booker were able to show great leadership on the floor in order for the team to be so effective in offence.
After such a strong opener to the season the team is ready to bring the same intensity to the next game, Fisher notes that Geelong are a similar side and he wants the team to be ready to go. Bartlett is happy that the team was able to set such a high standard and wants to roll with the momentum and confidence believing the team can play at this high level and really take it to Geelong.
There is an expectation to do a similar job against Geelong says Hayes, “play great defence and play together smart on offence”
Final Score, Miners 85 over Braves 75.
The GMHBA Ballarat Miners continue their strong start to the season against Geelong, at the Geelong Arena at 8:00pm tonight.