A WEEK after the league’s leading scorer Brooque Williams tore them to shreds, the Dubbo Rams face another stiff test when they travel to Bathurst on Saturday to meet the unbeaten Goldminers in the Waratah League competition.
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Williams was the star of the show last week, scoring 33 points as Wagga beat Dubbo by 43 points, and this week the Rams will be confronted by the twin towers of Haylee Lepaio and Teagan Burke.
Adding to that, they will be without Claire Hargreaves, who will again be on rep coaching duty.
Dubbo Basketball Association vice-president Peter Hargreaves said the girls are fully aware of the task that confronts them, admitting a consistent four-quarter performance is required.
“Last week the girls were getting shots off but they weren’t dropping and Wagga just did everything right,” Hargreaves said.
“Once you miss a few shots early and you see the opposition hitting theirs, confidence can drop and I think it is a night the girls need to forget about.
“The mood at training on Thursday night was upbeat, which is a credit to them, and if they can be solid across four quarters it will be a step in the right direction.
“Obviously we would love to win but you need to be realistic and say Bathurst are a very good team, but they are based around Lepaio.
“She’s only in Australia for six more weeks before she heads back to the USA to continue her college program and she won’t be here for finals so the challenge for our girls is to get into those finals and see what happens.”
Dubbo currently sits fourth in Pool B of the competition, with the top three in each pool progressing to the finals later in the year.
One game ahead of them is Queanbeyan, who they will meet on the road before the season finishes.
“That game is shaping up as the key,” Hargreaves said.
“We have seven games to go. Two are against Bathurst, one is against Wagga so they will be our hard ones.
“We have two against Central Coast and one against Goulburn, which on paper we should win so that will leave Queanbeyan.
“Realistically Bathurst and Wagga probably have their spots sealed so it will be between us and Queanbeyan to take third spot.”
Tip off in Saturday’s match against Bathurst will be at 3.30pm.