BATHURST Goldminers will want to put on a good show on their home court during this weekend’s second round of Western Junior League Basketball.
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Goldminers teams ranging from under 12s to 18s are chasing plenty of points at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium in their bid for a finals position.
Many Bathurst teams enjoyed a strong performance at the opening round, with the under 12s, 14s and 16s girls and the under 18s Blue boys all bringing in undefeated records.
Bathurst basketball representative Matthew Chapman said there will be plenty of teams to watch over Saturday and Sunday’s action.
“First round was really successful for us,” he said.
“Our under 18s girls didn’t play, due to players away at state camp, so it will be a big weekend for them with five games. We’re undermanned in that team because we’ve got three players away with rep netball, but I’ve got pretty high hopes for them.
“The under 12s, I expect some big things out of them. The boys have got a team who can do very well. There’s a lot of new kids in there … and they haven’t had much time to work together but they did a great job.
“We’re not chasing numbers in those younger age groups at the moment, and it’s good to see them doing well.”
The under 12s girls will have an exciting match against the division’s only other unbeaten side from round one – Orange Eagles – to wrap up this weekend’s play.
Goldminers’ under 14s boys went winless in the opening from their two matches, but in a busy four-game round they’ll have some great opportunities to get on the board.
Goldminers’ older WJL teams, like last season, are leading the way.
“Our 18 boys have a stacked team. They’re short on players as well, because of a clash with Youth League, but they should be successful regardless,” Chapman said.
“The 16 girls generally do really well. They’ve got two teams that can give them a bit of competition in Orange and Cootamundra. There’s high expectations on that team.”
The under 18s Goldminers Blue boys won all three of their round one matches in incredibly one-sided contests. Their closest game was a 66-point win.
However, this weekend they’ll run into the other two undefeated teams in their division – Griffith Demons and West Wyalong Black.
Matches at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium get underway from 8am on both Saturday and Sunday.