The Maitland Mustangs women are just two wins from securing the Waratah Basketball division one women's minor premiership.
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They start their quest on Saturday night when they host the Wagga Wagga Blaze and can complete it at home again the following week when they take on their main rival for the title Coffs Harbour Suns.
The Blaze are the only team to have beaten the table topping Mustangs this year.
“We’ve beaten everyone apart from Wagga, who we lost an away game to. We were missing a fair few players for that game,” Maitland’s Hannah Fox said.
“We probably haven’t had a full team available all year so our results are really good considering.”
The Mustangs have three games left in the regular season and with an eight win and one loss record are two games clear of the Suns.
Confidence is high among the team that this year’s strong blend of experience and youth can take them to a minor and major premiership double after making the semi-finals for the past three years but not progressing.
Key player Amanda Bendeich said the team always had plenty of talent but had gelled incredibly well under 2018 coach Mark Wawszkowicz.
She said he had a more relaxed approach to coaching, kept things simple and had great trust in the playing group.
“The pressure to win has been taken off and we are playing so much better as a team,” she said.
“It’s a really nice blend of younger players and experience. The younger players bring a real enthusiasm and everyone is benefitting from that energy.”
They finish the regular season against arch-rivals Newcastle at Newcastle on August 4.
Tip off on Saturday is at 7pm.
The Mustangs youth men are also in action at the Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday against the Blacktown Storm before heading down to Bankstown on Sunday to play the Bruins.
Maitland are eighth on the table with an eight win, nine loss record and wins against the Storm (ninth) and Bruins (seventh) are vital to keep their play-off hopes alive.
The Mustangs championship men also head down to Bankstown on Sunday and should continue their late season surge against the last-placed Bruins.
The Mustangs will be ruing a couple of close losses as they are three games outside the top six, with just four games to play in the regular season.
They have home games on July 21 (Penrith Panthers) and July 28 (Sutherland Sharks) before travelling to take on Newcastle in the local derby on August 4.
