Bendigo Stadium will host a re-match of last year’s SEABL championship game when the Bendigo Braves hit the court for the club’s first pre-season hit-out on Friday night.
The Braves will be hoping to exact some revenge for the 88-61 loss to the Nunawading Spectres in September.
The match, which begins at 7pm and includes free entry for spectators, will be the centrepiece of a big three days of basketball at Bendigo Stadium.
Beginning tomorrow and concluding Saturday, the 34th Bendigo Skin Ski & Surf Junior Classic tips-off with 160 junior teams from regional Victoria competing.
More than 20 Bendigo boys and girls teams from under-12s to under-20s will face squads from as far as Frankston, Swan Hill, Nunawading and Sunbury.
The Braves will trial some of its younger members alongside more experienced campaigners Chris Novak, Adam Tanner, Kevin Probert and Chris Hogan on Friday night.
Probert said the game would be a good opportunity for the young players to play at a higher level before star American imports Deilvez Yearby and Daniel Horton join the squad on February 17.
Tom Garlepp, a star with NBL club Gold Coast Blaze, will also join the club after the national league season.
The Braves re-grouped for pre-season training on January 7 and the squad is hoping to go one step further this season.
“The championship is what we haven’t been able to win,” Probert said.
“We’ve kept most of the squad together, apart from the imports, so we should be up there again.”
Probert played in the Junior Classic as a developing basketballer and said it was a strong competition which would feature a lot of rising stars.
“It’s probably one of the biggest Victoria country tournaments you can play in and it’s great for local kids to have it in their home town,” he said.
Fans will get an opportunity to meet and greet Braves and Spectres players after Friday night’s match.
The Braves’ first match of the 2012 SEABL season is away in Frankston on March 17, while the team’s first home match is against Canberra on March 31.
Braves team for Friday night: Chris Novak, Adam Tanner, Kevin Probert, Chris Hogan, Chris Adkins, Ian Wright, David Hogan, Brad Chalmers, Daniel Hansen, Tom Kenyon, Jarrod Kerwin, Dane Spear.
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