JUST one month shy of four years since the Hamilton Hurricanes last tasted Country Basketball League success, the side defeated Ararat Redbacks by 15 points in the round five clash at HILAC on Saturday night.

The home side had shown glimpses at different times so far this season and hosted an Ararat team which had two wins to date, and with almost a full squad to choose from to date this season, the Hurricanes were eyeing off a strong performance to cap off a five-game run at home.

The Hurricanes started positively, putting up 12 points to 11 in the first quarter, with Joel Le Roy and James Cleaver each contributing three points.

The second term was dominated by the Redbacks, as they round their range and also dragged down plenty of rebounds, going into half time leading, 38-29.

Josh Miller was a shining light for Hamilton, leading the scoring with nine points, but needed support in the second half.

Hamilton continued to chip away at the scoreboard deficit in the third quarter, winning the period by two points and putting pressure on the visitors.

With seven points separating the two times at the final break, it was the locals who came out and grabbed control, swinging the momentum in their favour and had closed to within three points with more than six and a half minutes still to play.

A minute later the margin was one point before the Hurricanes grabbed the lead just before the halfway mark of the final quarter.

That soon blew out to a six-point advantage before a timeout was called, with Josh Miller lighting it up from the perimeter, draining threes to get the crowd on their feet.

The Hurricanes knew the game was in the bag in the final minute, eventually going on to record a 75-60 victory.

Miller finished the game with 26 points, while Matthew Parker (11 points) and Sam Brewer (10 points) were also important contributors.

Hurricanes co-coach, Scott Miller said the result was a good reward for the hard work the squad had put in, with a strong defensive effort a particular highlight on Saturday night.

“I think I said earlier a win would be a bonus, nobody would be expecting one this early in the season, so now we have our sights set on another one for sure, maybe a couple,” he said.

“It was hard to get a sub in the last quarter, those five were just giving everything.

“I think the defensive effort at the start of that last quarter along with the crowd got us over the line.

“The crowd was awesome, it wasn’t full, but to have the crowd and kids noisy was really pleasing.”

Reeling in a second half deficit was also an important progression for the team, building momentum ahead of the side’s first road trip this weekend.

“We just play a quarter at a time, we lost the second quarter quite big, and so we came in at half time and spoke about winning each quarter, and we won there out of the four,” Scott said.

“When you keep a side to six points for the quarter, it was a massive defensive effort.

“We didn’t shoot well early, but to dig in and defend like that was really pleasing.”