WAGGA Heat are already looking forward to a clash against second-placed Bankstown after keeping their title hopes alive on the weekend.
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The Heat were back at their best over a busy weekend, winning both games against Dubbo Rams.
The Heat travelled to West Wyalong to play the Rams on Saturday, and won 88-71, before trouncing Dubbo 93-56 at Bolton Park Stadium on Sunday.
The wins kept the Heat’s top eight hopes alive.
“It does, it puts us in the mix,” Wagga Heat coach Colin Reed said.
“There’s about four teams in the fight for the last two spots.”
The Heat have the bye this weekend and will have a break from training as they look to freshen up for a crucial final month of regular season games.
The important stretch begins with a trip to Bankstown on Saturday week to take on the second-placed Bruins.
“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to play them and we’re a little bit excited about the opportunity I guess,” Reed said.
“It will be a good yardstick for us.
“We don’t want to lose that one, but it will be a simple equation if we drop Bankstown, then we’ll need to win our next three. We can’t go in thinking two will be enough, we need to go in thinking we can win all four.
“If we lose to Bankstown by a point or two points then we know we’re a top three or four side. If we win, then we definitely know we should be up there.”
The Heats’ defensive efforts were a highlight in the two wins over the weekend. It has been a focus for the team in recent weeks and Reed was thrilled with that aspect of their game.
“We had some really strong periods where we maintained our structure and concepts on offence,” he said.
“All season we’ve been building with our guys on how to make points from defensive offense. If we can get our defensive yards up, we’re sure to make points.
“We did that really well at West Wyalong and on Sunday we stepped it up again. I hadn’t seen a defensive effort like that from us this year, as a team.”
Scott Hare was a standout for the Heat over the weekend and was well supported by the likes of Zac Maloney and Shannon Klein.
Reed put his bench on for the final eight minutes on Sunday and was impressed how they closed out the game, particularly the Heats’ two under 18 players, Bailey Lloud and Fletcher Petersen.
Meantime, Wagga Blaze went down 68-43 in their showdown with second-placed Bathurst Goldminers at Bolton Park Stadium on Sunday.
