BALLARAT Rush is getting its South East Australian Basketball League season up and running.
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Three wins on end has Rush fourth in the east conference, but it is still far from comfortable.
Not only does it need to win to stay ahead of Bendigo and Brisbane, Rush must keep the run going to keep in touch with the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence, Dandenong and Nunawading.
It is only early in the season, but for the moment the table is delicately poised.
Rush faces Launceston, which is also in form, at the Minerdome on Saturday night in its first cross conference game of the season.
What Ballarat has been able to do is make the most of the early stages of a sequence of home fixtures.
Rush has the luxury of five home games in a row and this is the third.
Significantly this will be the second game in which head coach David Flint has had the on-court presence of co-captain and key recruit Kerryn Harrington.
She returned after getting over a broken hand to play a part in a win over Brisbane – shooting 10 points and providing six assists.
Harrington is vastly experienced and while she has had a lot of time to study Rush’s game from the sidelines, her contributions are going to get better each time she plays alongside the likes of Joy Burke, Kristy Rinaldi, Ashleigh Spencer and Kasey Burton.
Burke faces a big assignment against Mikaela Ruef, who leads the SEABL in rebounds on 16 a game.
Burke has also made an impact with 11, but it might take a team effort to match Ruef.
Lauren Mansfield will also be a danger from Launceston as a leading sharp-shooter from three-point range and prominent in assists.
GMHBA Ballarat Miners have until Sunday before facing Melbourne Tigers at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
The Tigers are in their first season in the SEABL as a development team for their NBL program.
Neither the Miners or Melbourne have been able to make a significant impact in the east conference and sit sixth and seventh respectively.
Their form reflects this too.
Ballarat has had three defeats on end and Melbourne five in a row.
Coach Eric Hayes certainly needs to snap his players back into form and that means contributions across the board.
Too many more losses now and the season could be gone all too early.