Hosts Dubbo will take a 229-171 lead into Friday's back half of the tie, using a big netball victory and closer basketball and rugby league successes to push their margin wider.

Bathurst took the early lead after an 8-4 victory in the tennis and held onto their advantage when the basketball side limited the damage in a tough 34-33 last-second loss.

However, a 65-15 loss to a more experienced team gave momentum to the Dubbo squad.

An 18-10 rugby league victory rounded out a strong day for the home school.

"I have to give some real praise to the Dubbo teams. In the rugby league this afternoon it was really close until the end when they got a late try," Bathurst High School principal Ken Barwick said.

"Our netball side, who are a much younger squad of mostly year nine and 10 girls, fought hard for the entire game against a well-drilled and much taller team.

"We did what we expected in the tennis, winning that, but it was close too. They won 7-5 and 7-6 sets as part of their four wins and that could have easily gone our way.

"They're on top because of a blowout in a sport where we we've got a much younger team. That's not their fault. It's just the way it is."

The rugby league match was an exciting way to conclude the day.

The black and red army started strong in the game's early goings and set a frenetic pace that the Bathurst boys struggled to keep up with.

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Dubbo's Harry Kreuger got the ball next and out-manoeuvred Bathurst's defenders to put the first points on the board 13 minutes in.

There wasn't much time for Bathurst to get settled before the two sides traded possession once again.

Dubbo's Colby Peckham used some fast feet and slick moves to slip through Bathurst's defence and bring the score to 8-0 in Dubbo's favour with ten minutes to go until half-time.

A conversion later and Dubbo led by 10 heading into the closing minutes of the first half.

"Harry Kreuger and Colby Peckham, they played basically the whole of the game; Kreuger just goes forward, he does the simple things right and he's always there," Dubbo College coach Craig May said.

"Colby leads form the front, he's always passionate about his school and passionate about playing for his school, which is good."

The first half went down to the final minute with Bathurst still looking for opportunities to score before they managed to keep the ball moving long enough to out-flank Dubbo's defence and put their first four points on the board, with a conversion following the halftime horn taking it to 10-6.

That passion and intensity saw the Bathurst side get off to a strong start early, but errors began to creep into their efforts that gave Dubbo the opportunity to score with a lightning fast try dragging the lead out to 14-6 in favour of Dubbo early in the second half.

That intensity kept both sides defensive efforts on point in the second half, but with errors costing both teams opportunities to make progress along the field before Bathurst were finally able to break through and close the gap with six minutes to go, leaving it at 14-10.

In the dying minutes of the game, it was Dubbo's Jayden Blake broke through and planted another try, bringing it to 18-10 before the final horn sounded.