CANBERRA Gunners South East Australian Basketball League skipper Jonathan Miller said the junior development program at the Queanbeyan Basketball Association was proving its worth as his Queanbeyan Roadrunners side looked to consolidate.
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The second tier Queanbeyan team, which comes under the Yowies NSW State League side, plays in the ACT competition, and have returned six wins from 12 starts so far this season in the ACT Premier League.
And although his men have scored inconsistent results so far, Miller said his young guns were showing they had the ability to return fire in place of the losses of senior players from last season.
"We've had some good wins and we've had some big losses, but we're still definitely a top four side," he said.
While he is originally from Belconnen, Miller has played with the Roadrunners for over 10 years, and played in the side that won four out of a possible six premierships in the ACT competition between 2005 and 2010.
Along with other experienced players since that time, Adam Jackson became part time in the competition to focus on his Yowies commitments, leaving big shoes to fill for the up-coming young blood.
Two young Yowies players in Sam Burton and Josh Rowcliffe have come to the Roadrunners side this season, and Miller said both had fired in some important wins.
"Sam is a huge boy with great ability...when you look at him you'll see why he's such a talented basketball player," said Miller.
"We've had Josh Rowcliffe really step up for us in attack too. He scored 18 points against North's, who are a really strong team with former Gunners players, so that was an outstanding effort."
The team currently sits on par in fourth spot, which will be the cut-off for the finals after the 25th and final round.
Competition heavyweights the Wests Magpies and North's lead the competition in first and second respectively after 14 rounds, and are expected to stay heavy fielding a number of Gunners players respectively.