WAGGA Heat crippled the Springwood Scorchers winning 157-59 at the Incinerator on Saturday night.
After losing 11 consecutive games Springwood arrived with a squad of six players and endured the onslaught.
“Springwood came in under-manned, and they got their arses handed to them,” Wagga Heat coach Allan Mullins said.
The Heat forged an early lead and dabbled with new defensive tactics.
“It was certainly a good game to get them all fired up,” he said.
Springwood performed well in the final quarter, scoring 19 points, as the Heat dropped their guard in the dying minutes.
“My only disappointment was that we let them get 59 points,” Mullins said.
Wagga Heat import Gage Daye top scored with a career high of 62 points, and Zac Maloney also reached a personal milestone with a career high of 30 points.
“Zac was on 28 points, he was sitting on the bench with five minutes to go, he said he wanted to go on and reach 30,” Mullins said.
“I said, ‘you’ve got a minute.’”
Mullins had the freedom to run the players who don’t always get a lot of court time.
“We were able to give every player on our roster a good run,” he said.
With another commanding win under his belt Mullins is quietly confident the local team has what it takes to win the grand final.
“We have proven we are good enough,” he said.
Wagga Heat are placed first in Pool C and second overall in the statewide competition.
“Our pool is the strongest pool, coming out of our pool we’re in a very good position,” Mullins said.
He conceded there are many factors that could impact the team’s performance in the final rounds, mentioning that the grand final is played a day after the semi final.
“It’s tough, I’m confident we have the players to do it and the structure to do it, but only if all the ducks are lined up.”
The Wagga Blaze also played at Bolton Park on Saturday, suffering a 34 point loss to the undefeated Bathurst Goldminers, 92 to 58.
Wagga struggled to contain Bathurst captain Teagan Burke who top scored with 29 points.
Blaze player Breanna Arbuckle top scored with 19, Caren Hugo contributed with 14 and Ash Hayllar with eight points.
Both the Blaze and the Heat have the long weekend off.
Blaze coach Michael Macpherson said the the Blaze will need to improve on their defensive play for the double header weekend in Bathurst on May 13-14.
The Heat’s next game takes place in Lithgow on May 13.
