THERE might have been a host of changes from when the Miners last took on Nunawading in Ballarat, but there are plenty within Ballarat basketball that still have long memories.
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The Miners have exorcised the demons of the preliminary final of 2019 with a stirring home win in front of their biggest home crowd of the season on Saturday night, 94-67.
On Sunday, the Miners in the second of their double-header weekends, consolidated their recent run of good form was an 88-69 win.
It takes their season win loss tally to 6-5, the first time all year they've been in the positive, and dependent on other results, could now find themselves in the top eight for the first time this season.
Saturday night's dominant win was set-up by an outstanding first half where the Miners blew their opponents apart with quick ball movement and for the first time at home all season, strong shooting.
When William Hickey bombed two three-pointers in the opening moments on Saturday night, you knew the team was on.
And from that point, they never let up, opening up an 11 point margin at the first break, extending that to 21 at the half before running away to a convincing win.
Big man Jock Perry played his best game for the club, hitting 18 points at 70 per cent efficiency, while Deng Acouth was strong all night inside, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and shot 12 of 13 from the free throw line as he continually drew fouls out of his opponents.
Matt Kenyon picked up eight assists to go with his 10 points drawing special praise from coach Brendan Joyce after the match while Sam Short was at his play-making best, controlling the contest from the outset.
And so it went on, as everything the Miners touched turned to gold.
Sunday's match was notable for the change in formation with young gun Zac Dunmore earning a start in place of Hickey.
Dunmore didn't let the side down either with 16 points, 13 of which came in the first half. To go with that he also had a game-high five assists, showing his undoubted quality as he looks for more minutes in the latter half of the season.
But Sunday's match belonged to Short and Perry who backed up their strong home form from the night before. Perry hit 23 points, shooting at an impressive 60 per cent, looking like he has finally found his range after a slow start.
Short was also at his best with 24 points as he consistently set up his teammates, also picking up six steals along the way.
The Miners set up the win with a dominant first and third quarters. They opened up a 15 point break at the first change, shooting at an incredible 88 per cent in the first eight minutes of the quarter, while Diamond Valley fought back, at one stage reducing the margin to just six, the Miners steadied to lead by 10 at the half.
They put the foot down in the third quarter opening up the match winning lead, and at one stage in the final term extended the lead to 30, before the hosts added some respectability late in the game, reducing the final margin to 19.
The Miners will return home on Saturday night matching up against Knox which got up in a one-point thriller over Waverley at the weekend. It is the only clash scheduled for Ballarat as the team finally gets a break from double-headers.