Ballara Miners will be bolstered by the return of stars Sam Short and Craig Moller ahead of its South East Australian Basketball League clash with Bendigo on Saturday night.
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The Miners sit on top of the southern conference table and travel to Bendigo eager to remain at the top.
Bendigo won the championship last year but have fallen back to fifth, three wins behind Ballarat Miners.
Coach Eric Hayes said the Braves were still a very dangerous side and had shown the ability to beat anyone on their day – evidenced by their victory over Mt Gambier, who has lost just two games.
“They’ve got a group that’s been together, obviously they won the championship last year,” Hayes said.
“They’re capable of beating anyone on any night. Any team that’s playing well, if they catch a team at the right time, they could knock off anyone.”
Hayes said Miners would stick to what has proven a successful formula.
“When we do the things we talk about and we do them consistently then we’ve had some good results...we’re not going to go away from that.”
Peter Hooley is still in China with the Sydney Kings, he will return Sunday.
While Ballarat Rush faces a tough challenge against the second-placed Bendigo on Saturday, before hosting Albury-Wodonga on Sunday. It will require others to step up in the absence of Joy Burke, who is playing overseas.