This weekend provides the top-of-the-table Lady Cats with a challenging home-road double header. Coach Grantley Bernard is happy with the form his side will take into the match-ups with the Hawks and Falcons, after a 64-49 win over Eltham. “A good solid win set up in the first quarter and underpinned with some solid defence and commitment throughout,” he said. Kylie Morrissy was again the star with 25 points, while Jae Conn dished eight assists. Those two will again need to fire, along with Candice Rogers and Maddy Taylor, if the Lady Cats are to extend their winning streak to six. Bernard though is not looking beyond Saturday night’s clash with Ringwood. “(They’re) a good team that has improved since we played them in the pre-season, so we have to make sure we again focus on doing the basics well for 40 minutes," he said. “Once that game is out of the way, only then will we look at and think about Waverley.” The Falcons handed Geelong its only loss of the season, 70-51 in round two.

Division 1 Men (6-1): vs. Whittlesea (4-3) @ Mill Park Basketball Stadium, Saturday 8.30pm

The Cats have claimed top spot on the Division 1 table with a 107-85 win over finals contenders Werribee, extending their unbeaten streak to six. “An excellent all round effort,” said coach Shayne Bow. “All 12 players were on the score sheet due to a great team performance.” They now face Whittlesea at Mill Park on Saturday night, with the Pacers becoming only the second team to beat former ladder leader Melbourne University on the weekend. “It makes for a tough game,” coach Bow said. Jason Reardon and Paul Hutchison will relish the challenge of going up against Whittlesea star Jason Dirkx, who has been the Pacers shining light in 2010 with 20ppg, including 25 against the Black Angels last week.

After consecutive double-headers, coach Kat Clancy will be happy to have her girls back to playing stand-alone games for the rest of the season. As they did the week before, the Young Lady Cats split their two games, with a gritty 69-64 win over Ringwood and a 76-61 loss to unbeaten ladder leader Diamond Valley. “Playing four games in eight days started to take its toll in the second and third quarters against the Eagles,” coach Clancy said. “The girls dug deep and missed some chances in the fourth quarter to get the lead down to single figures.” Whittlesea is struggling with a 2-5 record. However, the Young Lady Cats won’t be taking the Young Lady Pacers lightly. Star big Jess Watson will again be expected to lead from the front, with her 14.9ppg and 9.0ppg pacing the roster after six rounds of their inaugural season.

To say the bye couldn’t have come at a better time for the Young Cats would be an understatement. They’ve struggled so far with the jump from Youth League 2 to Youth League 1, registering just the one win. The availability of Steve Wiasak seems to be a factor in the Young Cats’ performance. When he drops back from the Senior Cats he averages 20.3ppg and 6.3 rpg and gives the side a fighting chance of victory. Without him, they struggle to score enough points. Supercats’ rookie Lachie Headlam has been the stand-out so far in 2010, averaging 13ppg and 9rpg, including 12 points and 11 rebounds in the weekend’s 80-62 loss to Ringwood. Michael Rebula, another Supercats’ rookie, has also been solid, 13.8ppg and 4.6ppg