With finals all-but out of the question for the Miners, the Ballarat outfit will be playing for pride when they take to the Minerdome on Saturday against Mount Gambier.
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While an east conference top four berth remains a mathematical possibility, the Miners would have to rely on both Dandenong and Canberra losing their remaining three fixtures while winning both of their own.
Despite the Miners’ fleeting finals hopes, the Ballarat side will be hoping to redeem themselves against the Pioneers after falling 12 points short on the road last week.
The undermanned Miners lacked the firepower to cause the upset over the reigning SEABL champions, with star point guard Roy Booker forced to the sidelines with injury, along with big man Chris Smith, who was again unable to take to the court due to an ankle injury.
Miners coach Eric Hayes said while overall he was pleased with the way his side played against one of the competition’s premier sides, the result had left their destiny in the hands of other teams.
“We spoke a few weeks ago about how our fate was in our hands but now it’s not,” Hayes said. “All we can do from here is try and win each game and hope everything falls our way.”
The Miners will again be forced to take a depleted side to the floor on Saturday when they get their second crack at the Pioneers.
They will take some confidence from their crushing 118-87 demolition of the Melbourne Tigers last weekend, where forward Ollie Bailey put up 42 points.
Hayes said the performance against the Tigers, which also saw Ash Constable and James Hunter score 21 points each, gave him confidence his charges could get over the line this weekend.
“We probably didn’t make some great decisions (against Mt Gambier), and that was probably the reason we lost,” Hayes said.
“While the first half against Melbourne was a bit of a shoot-out, offensively we were flying and in the second half we held them to 34 points and I thought it was a really nice effort.”
Meanwhile, the Ballarat Rush will enjoy the week off as they prepare for for a tilt at the finals.
With two home-and-away fixtures remaining, the Rush have almost certainly locked away fourth spot, and have managed to find some of their best form of the year with a gritty win over the Dandenong Rangers last weekend.
They will look to fine tune their preparations against Canberra and Geelong in the coming weeks.
