The Mount Gambier Pioneers will put their seasons on the line this weekend, as both the men’s and women’s sides take on quality opposition in do or die NBL1 South conference preliminary finals.

After winning their qualifying final against Frankston almost two weeks ago, the Castec Rural Pioneers men’s side will take the court against the Knox Raiders in Mount Gambier tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, the OneFortyOne Pioneers women regrouped after their qualifying final loss to Geelong United to bounce back against the Ringwood Hawks on Friday, setting the Mount Gambier side up to take on the undefeated Bendigo Braves this Saturday night.

The Pioneers men will tip off against the Raiders at the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre at 7.30pm.

Castec Rural Pioneers head coach Richard Hill said his side was geared up for a big game, with the only downer being that captain Kane de Wit had suffered an injury.

“We are okay, Kane hurt himself at training on Saturday so he will be touch and go whether he plays or not, but other than that we are okay,” he said.

“We are in pretty good shape and have been playing well, Knox are a very good team and we will need to be at our best.

“We played Knox here probably about two months ago and we were fairly depleted and they beat us pretty comfortably.

“They are better and we are a lot better too.”

Hill said his side had enjoyed the week off after winning straight through to the preliminary final, however the players were keen to get back on the court.

“It’s good to have a rest, but we’d probably prefer to keep playing, when you are playing lots and lots of games and then all of sudden you are not playing at all, as a coach I’d rather they kept playing,” he said.

“But we went and watched the girls here and that was good.”

Hill said the playoffs had featured tight, hard fought games, with tomorrow night’s match again set to be a tough contest.

“Almost all the men’s games across the playoffs bar one have been really last shot games, it’s been quite remarkable,” he said.

“Knox beat Eltham by three points and in the other semi final Diamond Valley beat Frankston by four.

“Knox have really good players, they have high level imports and a bunch of NBL guys, they have been top of the ladder all year, they have only lost four games all season.

“It will be a high quality game, there are very, very good players on both teams, both teams have been playing a high level.

“Knox have some tremendous import players that we need to slow down, we will need to be at our best to compete with them.”

Hill said his side was looking forward to taking the court at home tomorrow night, which was sure to attract a good crowd.

“It’s always nice to play in front of our home crowd, the crowds have been fantastic all season,” he said.

The Pioneers women will travel to Bendigo to take on top side the Braves, with the game starting at 5.30pm on Saturday.

OneFortyOne Pioneers head coach Matt Sutton said his side would be faced with a tough task against the top of the table Bendigo Braves.

“Bendigo are the benchmark of the competition, they are undefeated,” he said.

“We thought we did an okay job against them last time, apart from a few small areas, they were not at full strength last time we played them so we will certainly be up against it.”

Sutton said last Friday night’s semi final win over Ringwood was a great preparation for Saturday night’s match.

“Anytime you have a win like Friday night it’s always a good lesson and a good shot of confidence for the team, that’s as good a preparation as you can hope for going in to another tough game,” he said.

“Bendigo has got a bit of a three headed monster with Kelly Wilson who has played on the big stage and represented Australia, she’s achieving a ridiculous amount of assists.

“Megan McKay on the inside is probably MVP of the competition … and Amy Atwell who recently represented Australia is one of the best shooters in Australia.

“Our ability to stop those three will go a long way to success.”