THE Bendigo Braves will head into the second half of the SEABL season hoping to pick up from where they left off before the Queen's Birthday weekend break.
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A clash against arch-rivals Ballarat Miners awaits the top-of-the-ladder Braves at Bendigo Stadium on Saturday night.
The showdown between the east conference's top and second-placed teams promises to be an epic struggle of nerves and skills.
The Braves defeated the Miners by 25 points in their season opener at Ballarat, but point guard Kevin White is expecting a tighter contest this time around.
"They are a different team to the one we played in round one," he said.
"They were missing a few guys and they were relatively new with Earnest Ross and Ollie Bailey coming into the line-up.
"They had a high turnover of players from last year, but they are quality team and are coming second for a reason and they’ve won five on the trot.
"It's going to take quote an effort from us defensively as they are one of the highest scoring teams in the league.
"It will be a good test for us heading into this stretch of games ahead of the next break."
Among those missing for the Miners in round one was sharp-shooting playmaker Roy Booker.
The US import leads the league in scoring with 26.5ppg and is averaging 4.5 assists, a shade below teammate Ross (5apg) and Braves' general White (4.8apg).
Nullifying Booker, a perennial MVP candidate, will be a priority for a Braves line-up which prides itself on defence, led by reigning league defensive player of the year Damian Johnson, who has 36 blocked shots - 11 more than his nearest league rival - and 20 steals.
"(Booker) shoots a good high-clip from three - he's really their engine offensively," White said.
"Coupled with Earnest Ross, whose spent some time in the NBL, they are quality guys offensively.
"It's going to take a big effort from all our guys defensively to get the job done and stop them."
Dominant performances from Johnson and Matt Andronicus last time against the Miners enabled the Braves to win the rebound count by 14.
After a stint with the Miners in 2012, White said he was well versed in the significance of the Bendigo-Ballarat rivalry.
"I have that same rivalry with the Illawarra Hawks and Sydney Kings," he said.
"I know the rivalry the Braves and Miners have and it's good's to see both sides of it.
"I'm just looking forward to playing on our home floor and playing against them."
Import Jeremy Kendle enters the game as the Braves' leading scorer with 24.5ppg, second in the league behind Ballarat's Booker.
