The Norths Bears take on traditional rivals Hills Hornets for the prestigious Life Members Cup at the North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.

The two largest community associations in New South Wales have a proud tradition of competition at all levels of the sport and will clash in four crucial senior representative games to honour the contribution of the Life Members of both the Northern Suburbs and Hills Basketball Associations.

In the Youth League Men, the in-form Norths Bears will be keen to consolidate on their position in the top four against a Hills team that always provides strong competition for the young Bears. Both teams have plenty of depth and have players who regularly play with their respective Waratah Championship teams, so this one looms as a high quality encounter.

The ladder leading (11-2) Bears do not have a player in the league’s top 10 individual scoring list, but that is a testament to the depth and team basketball they have been displaying and no doubt Coach Dennis Emery will be keen to build on that against the neighbouring rivals on Saturday.

The Waratah Championship Women face a challenge against an experienced and deep Hills outfit, but will be bolstered by the return of former WNBL and Opals star Renae Camino for the game. Camino is leading the league in scoring and would be a firm MVP favourite and her return will provide some much needed perimeter scoring punch for the Bears.

Her clash with Sydney Flames guard and Australian Under 19 representative Casey Samuels will be a highlight of this one as the Norths outfit looks to bounce back from their first loss on the road to Newcastle a fortnight ago.

In the Youth League Women’s game, the Bears face the league leading Hornets in another test for the young Norths outfit. Hills has plenty of deep and offensive firepower and the ability of the Norths defence to restrict their run and open court play will be key as they try to cause the upset.

Guards Donalee Delahunty and Rachel Zalloua have plenty of experience and bring a defensive mindset to the table that will be important for the Bears who continue to work hard to stay in touch with the play-off race.

For Ben Knight’s Waratah Championship Men, Saturday’s clash will see the return of two-time MVP Jarrad Weeks and versatile young forward Fabijan Krslovic. Both players were part of the Sydney Kings Development Team tour of China, with Weeks playing to rave reviews and leading the young Kings in scoring.

The return of Weeks and the inclusion of Krslovic will allow Coach Knight to settle the line-up in the run to the play-offs and will provide much-needed depth against a Hills team that is running into a rich seam of form in recent weeks.

Coach Dom Findlay always has his charges playing hard and with veteran leaders such as Jason Strong and David Pollard leading from the front, the Hornets are always a difficult proposition.

Tip-off times for the big night of representative basketball are:

Youth League Men – 6pm

Waratah Championship Women – 6pm

Youth League Women – 8pm

Waratah Championship Men – 8pm