The Ballarat Miners will look to stay undefeated as their quest to jump up a division edges closer to reality.
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A win this weekend would see the Miners jump to a perfect 7-0 start to the year and cement their status as the team to beat in the Youth League One Big V competition.
The Miners will need to win the title in order to be considered eligible for promotion, but their upcoming clash may provide a taste of what's in store for the young squad should their hopes come to fruition.
The Altona Gators, which will host Miners on Sunday, were relegated down from the top grade at the end of last season.
Having won five of their seven games, they hold third place on the ladder and boast a side significantly older than their Ballarat counterparts.
The contest will mark the first meeting between the two sides in their current form.
Youth League One Miners coach Daniel Knaggs said the Gators are a quality outfit with a number of big athletes at their disposal. He said his smaller team will need to dictate the tempo at both ends of the floor to secure victory.
"Their average age is a lot older than us, so it's going to be a matter of us getting used to the bigger bodies, which we've done in previous weeks and this will be no different," he said.
Despite missing out on finals action last season, the hot start hasn't come out of nowhere for the Miners.
The team stormed home at the end of its 2018 campaign, winning eight of its last nine games to enter the new year as the form side.
Coach Knaggs said recruits such as Blake Allison and Bol Bak have provided quality minutes to the team to make up for off-season losses. He said the team has embraced the task of being this year's front-runners and will need to stay focused to be ready for what is to come.
"If we can make sure our training sessions are better than what we are competing against on weekends we will be in good stead," he said.
Meanwhile the Ballarat Rush will anxiously await the status of NBL1 players Clair Blower and Laura Taylor to see if they can take the court against the Altona Gators in the Victorian Youth Championship competition.
The two players are eligible to play youth league but have recently been mainstays in the Rush senior side. Their inclusion will depend largely on minutes played.
Coach Kristy Trahair said the Rush lost to Altona by a single point in their last meeting and Sunday's clash will likely be a close affair.
"Our key will be our shooting percentage, that is what is winning and losing us games," she said.