The Mount Gambier Pioneers head into the final round of the NBL1 South conference competition with eyes on the finals.
Both the OneFortyOne Pioneers women and Castec Rural Pioneers men are sitting in the top four of the conference, with one last push to go before finals action begins.
The women’s team is sitting in third spot on the ladder after two wins in Tasmania on the weekend while the men’s team has slipped to fourth after splitting the round 13 results.
The teams travel to Melbourne this weekend for round 14 action, up against the Waverley Falcons on Saturday night before backing up against the Eltham Wildcats on Sunday afternoon.
In the women’s competition Waverley sits just above Mount Gambier in second place, while the Wildcats are not far away in eighth.
OneFortyOne Pioneers head coach Matt Sutton said his side was coming off two good wins after last weekend’s Tasmanian double header.
“We were happy to get the wins, neither were overly convincing but we did enough to come away from the Tassie trip with two which is good,” he said.
“In patches we were good, both teams were small so they had the ability to junk us up at times, we handled ourselves well at times and there are some things we can learn from and develop as well.
“I thought across both good games Haliegh (Reinoehl) had a really good weekend, we were happy to get some more minutes into Zitina (Aokusa), she showed some really good patches which was good, everyone else had some really good moments.”
Sutton said his side would be up for the challenge in this weekend’s final home and away matches.
“Waverley are second and we are third and Eltham is eighth,” he said.
“This weekend is really important, there’s an opportunity to get second which is important and that starts with Waverley which is sitting in second, there is a lot on the line going into the last round.
“We beat them earlier in the year and we were shorthanded, that was one of our best games of the season.
“We feel like we got them on that day, we had a shorthanded line up so we got to play with a lot of freedom, given we have got more depth now we can attack them in a few different ways.”
Sutton said Eltham would be playing for a spot in the finals, making them a tough opponent.
“I think that it will be a must win game for them to secure or get into the eight depending on other results, they have brought in Anneli Maley who is one of the best players in our country, so it will be a really good test,” he said.
“I think everyone has been in recovery, we have done some group shooting sessions and will train some more, but everyone is feeling pretty satisfied I think.”
Sutton said his side was aiming to finish in the top two on the ladder in a bid to secure a home final.
“The structure of finals is that top four get a second chance, top two would mean the first game would be a home game,” he said.
“That would mean we get to use our home court and get to play in front of our fans.”
In the men’s competition, Waverley and Eltham are breathing down the Pioneers’ necks, sitting in fifth and sixth spot respectively.
Castec Rural Pioneers head coach Richard Hill said his side was geared up for a tough weekend of basketball.
Hill said this weekend’s results could have a big impact on the top eight positions on the ladder.
“We can finish anywhere from second to fifth, if we win both we will finish second, if we win one we will finish third or fourth, if we lose both we will finish fifth or sixth,” he said.
“We play Waverley on Saturday and they are right in the playoff hunt, they are right behind us and Eltham on Sunday is trying to stay in the eight.
“Hobart will miss out on head to head, Ballarat are outside, there are two teams outside who might also sneak in.”
Hill said his side’s attention was firmly on the weekend’s first game against the Falcons.
“We played Waverley here when we were down on numbers, they are a good team, they beat us by about seven,” he said.
“We have not played Eltham, they led the league for the first half of the season and then they copped a couple of injuries, they have got everyone back now and they had a good weekend, prior to they’d lost five of six, a bit like everyone if you have got a guy or two out the season has been like that.
“If we play well we can win, but we could easily play well and not win this weekend.
“Hopefully we can do a good job on the weekend and guarantee two home finals which would be great.”
Hill said the side was managing a couple of niggling injuries but was confident they would not impact who takes the court this weekend.
“Titus (Robinson) is struggling with a bad knee, he’s had that for a few weeks, he’s pushing through and he will push through, Julian (Pesava) only played a few minutes on Friday night and didn’t play on Saturday,” he said.
