The Ballarat Holden Miners jumped to the fourth spot on the SEABL South Conference ladder after trouncing Kilsyth 80-51 at the WIN Minerdome on Saturday.

Shaun Bruce opened the scoring with a short-range jump shot, and Kevin White exploded with a nine-point first quarter.

The Miners outscored Kilsyth 20-11 in the second quarter, with Jared Scoines, Tim Coenraad and Shaun Bruce sharing the load.

Leading 44-29 at half time, Coenraad scored nine points in the third quarter to help the Miners outscore the Cobras 20-12 before three quarter time.

Ballarat closed out strong to take a 29-point win. Coenraad led all scorers with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while White, Scoines and Bruce each scored 14. White complemented his 14 points with 10 rebounds and six assists in a fine return to form.

Coenraad shot an outstanding 65% from the field and an unbelievable 63% from three-point territory. Kilsyth were smart enough to send Coenraad to the free throw line only once – Coenraad is the league’s best free throw shooter with 90% accuracy.Coenraad also won the battle of the big men – Kilsyth’s Tim Lang struggled with just nine points.

The Miners’ team game was showcased with 24 assists to Kilsyth’s nine. White led with six assists followed by captain Ryan Barnes’s five.

The Auslec Ballarat Rush weren’t so successful, forfeiting an early lead to fall 24 points short to Kilsyth, 74-50. Import Kayla Williams was a standout in her first game at the WIN Minerdome with 19 points and nine rebounds. Kellie Berry rebounded well, grabbing 10 boards. The Rush lacked scorers, however, with Kate Willey’s seven points being Ballarat’s second-highest score.

The Miners and Rush travel to Tasmania this weekend to face Hobart, Launceston (Rush) and North-West Tasmania (Miners) before their next home game at the WIN Minerdome on Saturday June 30 versus the Sandringham Sabres.