Tara Murray
With a finals berth already secured the Sunbury Jets are keen to fine tune things in the back part of the Big V men’s state championship season.
The Jets sit atop the table with just one loss after 14 rounds and have put together some good basketball.
While happy with how things have gone, coach John White knows there’s still work to be done.
“The guys have been great in terms of what we’ve been putting together at practice and putting out on the floor,” he said.
“We’ve been doing it without a full squad for the entire season, which has been even more impressive.
“We’ll look to keep it going.”
White said they were hopeful they would have their full side available in the next couple of weeks, having not had the whole 12 available at one time so far.
Trevor Clayton has missed the last few weeks, while Nathan Baker has been out with a broken foot.
White said the loss of Baker, who hasn’t played since round five, had been a big one.
“The more players available the better,” he said.
“Nathan is only a couple of weeks away. He was playing such a major role and we have really missed him.
“It will take him a couple of weeks to get his mojo back and slot back in where he left off, but the other guys have stepped up and taken a lot of the load.
“Guys have got good opportunities and we’ve come together as a squad and got the job done. We’ve had different starting lines and different rotations.”
With some big wins on the board as well, most of the squad has managed to get some good court time.
White said he had been impressed by teenagers Ned Caldwell and Bayley Lattenstein, who had made the most of their chances when they’ve got them.
Caldwell is part of the Jets normal 12 man squad, while Lattenstein has combined playing in the men’s and youth league men’s teams.
The Jets are set to face the McKinnon Cougars on Sunday. The Cougars sit in fourth spot.
White said their focus was continuing to prepare for finals.
“We have secured a finals berth this year,” he said. “We want to maintain home court advantage.
“We haven’t played our best basketball yet. We’ve played it in patches, but come play offs, it will be more physical.
“We want to build consistency and hopefully secure home court advantage for the finals and stay on top of the ladder.”
