Gunners Academy Host Double Weekend

Coming off a three week break, including a bye in week two and the Easter Holidays, the youthful Gunners Academy will be hoping to continue where they left off in the opening round when they defeated Saturday nights’ opponent the Bathurst Goldminers.

Traveling into regional NSW, the Academy took charge in their inaugural 2012 Waratah State League game in the second quarter and progressively got on top of the Goldminers to register a 35 point win. The challenge for the Academy now is to be equally as ruthless against a Goldminers team that will be pushing hard to reverse that first result between these two teams. The Academy should be able to add some height to their roster from the opening round when Stephen Rowe (201cms) and Nick Jackson (200cms) were unable to travel to Bathurst.  Even though Alex Pearce and Casey Baines were able to make their presence felt in the keyway, it was the pressure defense by the smaller Academy players that ensured the first up win. Unless the Goldminers have added new impact players, a similar Academy game plan should frustrate the visitors again.

Sunday’s game features the Wagga Wagga Heat, a perennial powerhouse in the South Conference of the Waratah State League.  If a positive result on Saturday night eventuates, this clash will feature the two remaining  undefeated teams. Wagga earlier defeated Queanbeyan in round one in a close one point thriller and then followed that up with a grinding 24 point win over Goulburn.

Having only one game this weekend could give the Heat a slight advantage, but having to travel on game day might even things back up. Playing without their US import, Erik Olsen, in round one, it was left up to Bobby Tye to nail several three pointers in the final minutes, enroute to 38 individual points, in their close win over Queanbeyan. Scott Hare managed 15 points and 15 rebounds to also help the cause. In their win over Goulburn, player/coach import Olsen equal top scored with Dan Tye, brother of Bobby, with 21 points.

With three 20 point plus scorers and an 83 point per game scoring average, the Heat are capable of scoring enough points to record a victory against the exuberant Academy. It will be the task of the home team to limit the free scoring Heat and to crank up their own offense to score enough points to secure an important victory over a quality opponent.

Enjoy all the action this weekend.

Saturday -  6pm  vs Bathurst Goldminers

Sunday – 1pm vs Wagga Wagga Heat