Ballarat Youth League Miners have missed out on a finals berth by one game after finishing the Big V season in Youth League One Men competition on a five-game winning streak.
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Youth League Miners head coach Daniel Knaggs described the season as “really positive”, with his young group excited to be around each other, working and competing together.
In their final game, the Youth League Miners defeated an undermanned Casey Cavaliers outfit, 115-77, at the Minerdome on Saturday.
“The playing group really locked in with the game on the weekend,” Knaggs said.
“They knew our main focus was to get the win, the rest of the results were out of our hands in terms of finals.”
The Youth League Miners shared the ball with seven players reaching double figures.
Amos Brooks (19 points, 13 rebounds) made a double-double, while Tristan Fisher and Ross Weightman added composure and high-quality execution.
“Whenever players rotated in they kept being aggressive and trying to bring something extra to the team, so once players had their moment, the next player rotated in,” Knaggs said.
“Casey ended up holding us really quite well considering they had six players.
“Each time they made a little bit of a run at us, we steadied the ship and stuck to our defensive principles and that allowed us to play through.”
With 12 Youth League Miners stepping out and getting minutes on the floor, Knaggs said the young players competed with high intensity and a good work rate.
Impressed with the local talent, Knaggs is excited to refocus towards next year.