Sherbrooke Suns Rally Over Youth League Ballarat Miners

6/4/14

Again facing a quality opponent without star guards Sean Massey, Ash Constable and Brady Neill, the Youth League Ballarat Miners looked to secure their first win of the season against the Sherbrook Suns at the MARS® MINERDOME on Sunday.

The Suns raced out of the blocks, scoring seven unanswered points which prompted a quick Miners timeout early in the contest.

After initially forcing shots on offense, Ballarat came out of the timeout, settled down and began executing their sets on the back of Tyler Contstable’s strong play.

Josh Peters got going  midway through the first with some good looks inside, and Damon Tilley provided good range off the bench as he drilled a tough three-pointer within seconds of being subbed in.

A strong finish to the first period saw the Miners trailing by just three points in a low scoring affair.

The second quarter went downhill quickly for Ballarat as they faced a double-digit deficit.

However a 5-0 run for the home squad highlighted by a crowd igniting three pointer from Constable brought them back into the hunt.

The Miners’ Jeremy Asiedu looked to come alive in the second quarter, and proved close to unstoppable in the open floor as he got good penetration and either finished strongly at the rim, or kicked to others for quality looks.

Despite continuing to trail as the first half wrapped up, Ballarat showed good signs that they would make a resurgence in the third and fourth quarters.

Sherbrooke had other ideas as they went on to dominate the third quarter, riding the strong penetration and play-making of point guard Kirk Smith (8 assists).

Smith continued getting everyone involved and the Suns players’ confidence rose by the minute.

Jack Sullivan lifted his intensity despite his shots not falling. As the game began to get away from the Miners, Sullivan (12 Rebounds, 4 Assists) dominated the battle for rebounds and continued to create good shots for his teammates.

The fourth quarter was all Sherbrooke, and with the game’s result beyond doubt, Suns coach Rob Roberts was given a chance to empty his bench and give some well-earned rest.

The final buzzer mercifully sounded with Ballarat falling short of the Suns, 95-53.

Tyler Constable was the shining light for the Miners in defeat with 20 points. Jeremy Asiedu also impressed.

Joshua Dow netted 19 points for the visitors in their triumph, most of which being recorded in the fourth quarter.