The Ballarat Miners have swept the Geelong Supercats to win the Big V men's youth league one championship.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Players screamed with emotion when the full-time buzzer sounded at the Minerdome on Saturday.
The 21-point victory put the finishing touches on the three-game series which the Miners closed out in front of a sold-out crowd.
"It's a little bit surreal, the guys have locked in all season and to come back and do it back-to-back is just amazing," Miners head coach Daniel Knaggs said following the win.
Geelong looked up for the fight in the first quarter, but were trounced by the Miners with a bombardment of emotion-filled three point shots.
Taking a 15-point lead into the first break, the Miners increased the lead in the second quarter to lead by 20 at half-time.
The writing was very much on the wall for Geelong early in the second-half, going down by as many as 27 points in the third.
Geelong fought back to its credit to come within 17 in the fourth, but it was too little, too late for the visitors who lost the game 110-89.
"We stuck to the game plan, we knew Geelong would make surges, we needed to make sure we controlled the game and controlled the tempo and we did," Knaggs said.
Knaggs shook his head with amazement over his chargers' first-quarter barrage, praising the brilliant shooting display.
Miners forward Blake Allison, who made two threes from his own hand, said when his side got going like that they are hard to stop.
"We're capable of that, that's what we have fed off when we've had big wins in the past," he said.
Allison top scored for the Miners with 19 points to go along with a monster 15 rebounds.
The performance yielded game MVP honours for the forward who was surprised by the accolade.
"I thought it could've gone to a lot of guys. Everybody put in 100 per cent, and it was good we got the win," he said.
The win provided an end to an almost perfect season for the Miners who sat atop the table most of the year.
Youth Ballarat Miners forge new pathway
A Big V men's youth league one championship will yield more than just bragging rights for the Ballarat Miners.
It means come 2020, it will compete in the Big V Victorian youth championship men's competition.
The promotion is the real prize for the team which will now be able to stake its claim against the best youth talent in the state.
Youth Miners head coach Daniel Knaggs said the promotion will be great for the development of Ballarat players.
"It's awesome for us to be able to step-up and provide a platform for the upcoming future talent coming through Ballarat talent pathways," he said.
Youth Ballarat Miner Blake Allison will be one of many to benefit from the jump in competition.
He said it will position Ballarat players in good stead going forward.
"It's good, it gives a lot of the younger guys a chance to play at a high level and it's good for the association as a whole," he said.