It was a do or die contest in the semi final of the NBL1 Women’s South Conference season between the OneFortyOne Mount Gambier Pioneers and the Waverley Falcons at The Icehouse on Friday night.

Several Pioneers men, including coach Richard Hill, joined fans on the sidelines to cheer on the home side.

The first minutes set the tone for the match, with Mount Gambier’s Sherrie Calleia getting the home side off to a classy start with Haleigh Reinoehl standing tall alongside Hannah Young.

But Carley Ernst, Renae Mokrzycki and Rebecca Cole found space for the Falcons and managed to find the backboard.

Despite the gallant efforts made by the Pioneers, it was the travellers who went to the first change ahead by nine points.

The initial stages of the second term proved to be tight, with neither side scoring until a three-point attempt by Cassandra Brown pegged back the Pioneers’ deficit.

Calleia made an impressive layup to get through the Waverley defense to close the margin to two.

But a foul from Shakera Reilly brought Cole to the line for two free throws to extend Waverley’s lead back out to four points.

Falcons’ Oria O’Reilly nailing two opportunities kicked the Pioneers defence up a gear, with Brown rising above the clouds and giving the home team some hope.

This helped Mount Gambier cut the Falcons’ lead back to three points at half time in what was becoming a supreme basketball match.

Again, it was Brown who got the Icehouse buzzing scoring early in the third period and repeated the same feat 40 seconds later to have a sniff of the lead.

Waverley clung to a one point advantage before creating some scoreboard breathing room off the back of Carley Ernst, Cole and Amelia Todhunter.

A lift was needed from the Pioneers and it was Brown who started the revival and soon Jasmin Howe, Reilly, Calleia and Reinoehl followed suit to go to the last change down by just two points.

The visitors extended their lead again early in the last with the mover being O’Reilly who had her bench jumping for joy.

The Pioneers were still three points down heading towards the final minute, but Calleia rose to the occasion and sunk a three to level the scores.

She then backed that up with a desperate block at the other end of the court to the relief of the crowd.

But despite Brown taking aim at a match-winning shot before the buzzer, neither team could break free and the game was deadlocked at 74 all.

Forcing the final into a five-minute overtime drove the crowd into a frenzy as the noise had the rivets in the roof rattling.

Mokrzycki, Cole, and Ernst set the scene for the visitors, but it was the Pioneers who responded through Young, Reinoehl and Brown.

Waverley got its nose in front, but with 38 seconds left Brown stepped up and shot another clutch three and the game appeared destined for more over time.

But a small error from the home team proved costly as the Falcons capitalised on a turnover and Cole ran into to an open basket to seal the two-point win with 10 seconds left.

While the finish was heartbreaking, the Pioneers, coached by Matt Sutton, can take pride in a stellar 2022.