The Ballarat Miners fell short against a tough opposition at home

Your Ballarat Miners were defeated, 80 – 94 by the Brisbane Spartans on Sunday afternoon. Roy Booker was impressive amassing 37 points and 7 boards, Earnest Ross made 13 points and Ash Constable 9 points.

Brisbane got off to a good start breaking down the Miners defence early in the first quarter and were quickly able to establish a lead over Ballarat.  Finishing the quarter Ballarat trailed Brisbane by 9 points, 23 – 32.

A heated second term saw new addition Craig Moller really come into the game, and add intensity to the side, Roy Booker had a 16 point quarter and the Miners shortened Brisbane’s lead to 7 points, 43 – 50.

The third quarter saw young Ross Weightman take the court, and Dyson King-Hawea turn up the Miners’ intensity despite going into the last term 11 points down. At the final break Booker had made it to 33 points.

During the last term the Miners let Brisbane take the lead out to 22. Craig Moller worked tirelessly with 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks, but the Miners ended the game 14 points down, 80 – 94.

Head Coach Eric Hayes talked about the expectation that Roy Booker scores, and he was happy with his effort on the court on Sunday, however he does like to think that his team could look for everybody to contribute in some way.

The Miners did make 80 points for the game, and Hayes thinks that with good defense that’s enough to win. There are plenty of defensive elements that Hayes and the team could do better. Hayes wanted his players to keep Brisbane out of the key and force them to take contested shots, and felt that the Miners made it a bit too easy for Brisbane to score. Hayes largely took responsibility for this, and plans to prepare them better for this element of their game in the coming week.  Coach Hayes thinks that he and the team are working harder, but perhaps not smarter.

Hayes was full of praise for new recruit Craig Moller, describing him as a super athlete, a great team player, positive and helpful on the court. He also touched on Ash Constable’s solid game and his hard work at both ends of the court.

For next week Hayes and the team will have to be better defensively, and he wants his side to think like a team a bit more. He liked the look of some of the younger players on the court, the way they played together and their intensity and he will look at the structure of his team, going into next week.

Your Ballarat Miners hit the road next week, Sunday May 8 to play the Melbourne Tigers and return to the Minerdome on Saturday, May 14 at 8pm to take on Dandenong.