The Heat's tough start to the year continued, going down to the Wildfire 81-52 at Bolton Park Stadium on Saturday night.

Maloney, however, remains upbeat and pointed to the 43-point loss to Camden Valley in the opening round and proof of their improvement.

"I was pretty happy. We played these guys in round one and I was pretty happy with the improvement," Maloney said.

"We highlighted a lot of numbers out of that game and almost every number was better. The only thing that wasn't was turnovers.

"So it's good to see the improvement is there. I was happy with the numbers but they still could be better."

Maloney said their first half was one of their best efforts of the year so far. They only trailed by five moments before half-time before a quick lapse blew the margin out to 11.

Eddie Merkel continued his good form with a strong game at both ends of the court. He top scored for the Heat with a game-high 17 points.

Josh Cochrane impressed in defence, while Charlie McCormack sparked the Heat with a couple of big dunks.

Another positive for the Heat out of the game was getting some minutes into young guns Cooper Seddon and Matthew Walsh late in the game.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: