Mark this date down, May 4, as the date when the Ballarat Miners became a bona fide force of the NBL1 South, going into warp speed against a star-struck Keilor Thunder.
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It was as brutal a back-to-back performances that the Miners have put in many years, firstly the women, led by a game out-out-of-the-box from Chloe Bibby with 36 points, 27 points from Abbey Wehrung, and a debut to remember from Mehryn Kraker with 22 points ran riot in the last quarter for a 90-72 win over the top side.
It was a 30-point rush in the last quarter that put pay to the home side's resistance, but in truth the Miners seemed to have this game in controls a long way from home.
Bibby shot the lights out for her 35 points as the starting five dominated the game. Milly Sharp the only bench player to get any significant minutes, as Bibby, Wehrung and Kraker held things together, despite the team going into the contest without star centre Alex Bunton.
As spectacular as the women were, it was only the entree to the main event as the Miners Men made up for last week's narrow loss to North West Tasmania with an all-the-way 30-point walloping.
The Miners comfortably won every quarter of the contest, running away to a 113-83 win.
Import Tyler Rudolph was more subdued than usual, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds, but that only allowed Nicholas Stoddart to play his best game for the team with 30 points. Majok Majok also continues to be a tower of strength, hitting 23 points to go with his 12 rebounds.
The win moves the women's team up to 3-4 on the season and 10th position, while the men are now third with a 5-2 records.
Fascinatingly, the men's team actually has the best winning percentage in the league but the two teams in front of them, Dandenong and Ringwood have each played three more games than the Miners.
It's a double header next weekend for the Miners, at home on Saturdya night against Eltham Wildcats before an away clash with Kilsyth on Sunday.
SCOREBOARDS
WOMEN: Ballarat Miners 90 (C Bibby 36, A Wehrung 27, M Kraker 22) def Keilor Thunder 72 (P Davidson 35, G Graham 12)
MEN: Ballarat Miners 113 (N Stoddart 30, M Majok 23) def Keilor Thunder 83 (K Kuany 22, J Gibbs 19)
