BATHURST Goldminers' top under 16s and 18s teams enjoyed an unbeaten run through the second round of Western Junior League Basketball over the weekend.
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The Goldminers 18s girls made it through unscathed from a busy five-game weekend and the 18s Blue boys won their danger game against West Wyalong Wildcats Black.
The weekend’s results were especially satisfying for the Bathurst 16s boys and girls teams since they ended their rounds with thrilling wins over Central West rivals Orange Eagles.
Bathurst Goldminers spokesperson Matt Chapman said the association came close to several other perfect rounds over a great weekend of basketball.
“Our under 14s girls only lost one game out of four and our under 14s boys went fifty-fifty and had a couple of difficult games,” he said.
“There were a few highlights in the older groups. Them going through undefeated was great and our 16s boys beating the previously undefeated Orange team was great.
“The under 18s girls beating Orange was another big result.”
The 18s girls didn’t play a match in the opening round due to low player numbers, so they were handed a busy draw for round two.
Goldminers showed they were up to the task with wins over West Wyalong (99-59 and 78-52), Griffith (100-67 and 107-60) and Orange (88-44).
The 18s Blue boys stamped their authority on the competition with three wins.
Chapman said it’s great to see the under 12s teams implementing the lessons they learned from the opening round.
“They’ve improved massively. There’s a lot of improvement I’ve seen in that under 12s girls side from the first session that I saw them in,” he said.
“The under 12s boys are down on some numbers, and had a few boys in foul trouble in their games, but there’s some real superstars in that team.”
The under 12s boys picked up a win over West Wyalong (53-28) before going down in close contests against Narrandera (62-50) and Lithgow (54-42).
The under 12s girls picked up their biggest win of the competition so far in a 68-26 result over Gilgandra.
It was a great weekend for the under 14s girls. A narrow four point loss to Narrandera was their only stumble across the two days.
Wins over Griffith and West Wyalong means the under 14s Goldminers boys can keep their sights set on the top half of the table heading into the next round.
Bathurst’s under 16s boys and girls teams lost just one of 14 games between them after the opening two rounds.
