It may not have been a perfect weekend, but the Castec Rural Supplies Mount Gambier Pioneers did enough to secure a coveted home qualifying final after the home and away portion of the 2022 NBL1 South season finished last weekend.
The doubleheader kicked off at a packed Icehouse on Friday night when everyone came to salute Erik Burdon.
The man known as “Ezy” surpassed Jason Joynes to become the most experienced Pioneer ever with now 269 caps next to his name.
Burdon’s teammates did not let him down on the grand occasion either by leaving Ballarat in their wake.
Once the salutes and ceremonies celebrating Burdon’s big moment finished, Michael Harris kept the good times rolling with a slam dunk to open proceedings.
Before too long Nick Marshall, Kane de Witt and Clevon Brown joined the party and a dunk from the latter vaulted the Pioneers to a dream 10-0 start from the first two minutes.
The offensive and defensive tactics were on point for Mount Gambier which ensured a 12-point lead was protected by quarter time despite the Miners rallying near the end.
Ballarat started the second term with some energy by shooting a couple of early three-pointers to cut the deficit down to five points.
But it was no cause for concern for the Pioneers as the advantage quickly returned to the safety of double figures and Harris flexed his muscles figuratively and literally.
After swapping ends Koen Sapwell and David Crisp did their best to keep the Miners in frame, but the hosts always had something in reserve to keep them at a comfortable distance.
By the final term it was a Pioneers precession with Ballarat unable to keep up.
The biggest cheers for the night were saved for the man of the moment Burdon, who brought the place to its feet by fittingly sinking a three pointer during the final term.
It ensured the night was complete and helped Mount Gambier ease to a 102-70 win.
The Pioneers never looked close to letting go of the lead due to a consistent effort from the main five of Marshall, Harris, Brown, Jordan Rawls and Tom Kubank at both ends of the court.
After a day’s rest, the Castec Rural Pioneers suited up once again to take on the Waverly Falcons in their final clash of the home and away season.
While Mount Gambier had already sealed its fate, the Falcons had everything to play for with the possibility of making finals still far from certain and it turned out to be a thrilling back-and-forth battle.
The teams traded baskets early, but a clear leader was not established until the five-minute mark when Simon Conn and Daniel Dillon found their range from the paint.
The Pioneers had to scrap hard to keep the deficit to just 10 points at quarter time.
When Waverley opened a game-high lead early in the second term, things looked challenging for Mount Gambier with Dillon, Bennie Lewis and Durrell Mcdonald being potent scorers.
However, the Pioneers were not going to give up so easily and a fightback fronted by Kubank and de Witt brought the game too life.
A Brown dunk sent Mount Gambier into the main break on a high, however, the visitors did not expect the Falcons to spread their wings from long range.
Lewis could hardly miss from beyond the paint and his accurate shots were sinking and pushing the hosts to a strong position at the final break.
Harris, Marshall and Kubank all stepped up to cut the difference down to just five points and raise some nerves around the stadium halfway through the final term.
Despite the late comeback, Waverley did enough to get the chocolates with three players scoring 18 points or more.
While the Pioneers will enjoy a home preliminary final this weekend, the Falcons efforts were not enough and their flight was cut short sitting ninth on the ladder.
