BIG baseline drives, slapping away shots against the backboard and even finding the time for alley-oop slam dunks.
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Bathurst Goldminers’ Matt Gray made a statement in his side’s 114-67 win over the Camden Valley Wildfire on Sunday, sinking 48 points to get his team’s Waratah Youth League division two campaign off to a super start.
Goldminers got off on the front foot at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium to shoot out to an 11-0 lead in little time.
It set the tone for the remainder of the match.
Defensive pressure, strong three-point shooting and good play on the break all combined to give the Bathurst squad the start to the season they were looking for.
A scrappy third quarter saw the Goldminers rack up the bulk of their turnovers but a brutal 38-point final term of basketball was a much-improved effort.
Goldminers coach Andrew Osborn said the strong start allowed his team to make plenty of rotations off the bench.
“It started off pretty well and we virtually had the game won in the first quarter. It was then a matter of getting all the bench players on so they got some court time and got to experience what the competition is like at this level,” he said.
“I was happy with the start. The third quarter was terrible but … in patches this game we played champagne basketball.
“In other patches it wasn’t so great – whether it was fitness, a drop in intensity, trying to force things we didn’t need to – that’s something we’ll talk about on Wednesday and hopefully something we’ll have right for next week.”
Gray scored the first 11 points of the match for the Goldminers before the Wildfire could get themselves on the board.
With the help of three Majok Deng three pointers the Goldminers blew out to a 29-14 lead at the first break.
In the second quarter the Goldminers continued to make life difficult for the Wildfire when it came to getting inside the paint.
Bathurst’s Nick Smith and Will Cranston-Lown found the net from the three point line to take the score to 49-28 at the main break.
The third quarter was far from perfect for the home side but, despite lapses in concentration and simple turnovers, the Goldminers were still able to outscore the Wildfire.
Gray continued to rack up points through all methods, whether it was getting on the end of long passes or from the three point line.
Goldminers’ offensive pressure was shown in the final foul count – Camden Valley coming out 26 to 17 ahead.