The Taree Tornadoes junior representative basketball teams are on the road to Tamworth this weekend to continue their participation in the 2014 Molten Waratah Northern Junior League.

The U16 boys are leading the charge for Championship glory and after two rounds of the competition sit on top of the table with a perfect record of six wins from as many games. Quirindi, Bellinger Valley Braves and the Tamworth Thunderbolts are all in their sights this weekend and coach Chris Small is confident his team can maintain their undefeated status and lists the rapidly improving Quirindi outfit as the biggest danger over the weekend.

Coach Evan Thompson has the U16 girls improving each time they step onto the court and with games against Ballina, Quirindi and Kempsey it will be interesting to see if the team can make a mark in the win column.

The U18 boys under the direction of coach Troy Knutson have been working hard on the training floor and hopefully their efforts will translate to good results against the Bellinger Valley Braves, Ballina Breakers, Kempsey Kookburras and the Tamworth Thunderbolts.

The U14 boys only have a light schedule in Tamworth this time around and after playing five games in the Country Music Capital on their last visit back in April only have to play Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour in their quest to break through for that illusive victory.

Back on the domestic scene, men's basketball at Saxby's Stadium was back to its competitive best last Friday night when the Wildcats and Tigers stepped onto the court to start proceedings.

Both teams battled hard for the entire forty eight minutes of the game with no more than seven points separating them at any stage throughout the contest. When the siren sounded for full time, the margin was just one point with Tigers claiming the win 67 to 66. Justin Starr led the way for the winners to finish with 27 points and Jacob Straub also made a major contribution to land 16 points. Alistair Eldred topped the scoring for Wildcats with a game high 30 points and Chris Small also played well to finish with 15 points.

Kings were too good for Hawks in the other game of the night to take the win 72 to 52. Jordan Woodward and Troy Knutson combined for 40 of the Kings 72 point tally while Mitch WIlson (20) and Ryan Encanto (12) kept the scoreboard ticking over for Hawks.

Emerging basketball talent, Bethany Macdonald from Harrington Public School heads to Albury next week as a member of the Hunter girls team to contest the State carnival.

This is a major achievement and Taree Basketball wishes Bethany good performances as she steps up to this higher level of competition.

Basketball will not be played at Saxby’s Stadium on Tuesday, 20 May 2014 as the venue has been booked by The National Science and Technology Centre, who will stage the Shell Questacon Science Circus from 6.00pm to 9.00pm.

The exhibition rarely visits the Manning region and will be a great opportunity for the local community to gain a greater understanding and awareness of science and technology through a fun, interative, and relevant experience.

Saxby’s Stadium is the home of Taree Basketball and details about junior, women’s or men’s basketball may be obtained on the telephone at (02) 6551 7456, by email tareebasketball@hotmail.com , on the net at www.taree.basketball.net.au or track down taree.tornadoes on Facebook.