Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Rush Youth Weekly Review

The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Rush Youth Weekly Review by Head Coach Michael Ryan & Rob Baker

The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Rush Youth headed to Dandenong last Saturday for the season opener in the Big V competition.

It was fantastic for both teams to be back on the court again after missing the 2020 season. For the Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth, it was their first battle in the Championship division.

The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth got off to what was a slower start being down 19-9 after the first 5 minutes of the game, but some rotational changes after an early time out had us peg the deficit back to 3 points by the end of the 1st quarter, to trail 29-26. Adjusting our defensive rotations and increased talk was our focus for the 2nd quarter and it paid dividends as we slowed Dandenong's scoring and reduced the margin again and went into the main break tied at 50-50.

The 3rd quarter saw a seesawing affair as the scoring dried up for both teams, however Ballarat was able to take the lead by 1 point at the last break to lead 66-65. The last quarter saw our intensity, and talk drop off and Dandenong took advantage of it early in the 4th quarter, the lead grew to 10 points and despite our best efforts we could not peg it back. Losing 88-77, the scoreboard did not tell the true story of how close the game was. We had 19 lead changes in the game, and we were tied 6 times.

Despite the result - this was a good first match for a new group and new coaching staff, with an exciting year ahead!

William Hynes was the MVP for the Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth recording 14 points, 6 assists and 4 steals.

For our Central Highlands Water Ballarat Rush Youth, it was a similar story as the Miners with Dandenong taking the lead early into the game claiming a 13 point lead in the second quarter. However, the girls continue to work extremely hard with some fantastic team defence which got us back into the game and handing us the lead late in the third.

From there we were able to maintain our intensity and hold on for a thrilling one-point win 71-72! A great team effort where the girls brough into the team plan and should be very proud of themselves.

Milly Sharp was awarded MVP The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Rush Youth scoring 22 points, 9 Rebounds & 5 Steals.

Annie Collins also played an exceptional game recording 16 Points, 13 Rebounds and 4 Steals.

Both girls were awarded Big V Blue Carpet honours for their round one performance. Well done!

This Weekend's Games

- Saturday March 20, 7:00pm The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth v Sandringham

- Sunday March 21, 1:00pm The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Miners Youth v McKinnon

- Saturday March 20, 5:00pm The Central Highlands Water Ballarat Rush Youth v Sandringham