The Mount Gambier Pioneers will take to the skies this week, flying to the Apple Isle for a double header of Tasmanian games in round 13 of the NBL1 South conference.

The Castec Rural Pioneers men are coming off a winning double header at home, while the women split their matches, going down to the undefeated top of the ladder Bendigo Braves before bouncing back against the Dandenong Rangers.

The Pioneers men currently sit second on the ladder, with the women in third position.

The Castec Rural Pioneers men will take on the Hobart Chargers tomorrow night, before backing up against the North West Tasmania Thunder on Saturday night.

The Chargers currently sit in 11th position on the ladder, with the Thunder in 16th.

Castec Rural Pioneers head coach Richard Hill said his side had a tough task with four games in the next eight days to round out the home and away season, with all played interstate.

“We have got a tough couple of trips,” he said.

“We are surprisingly sitting second the ladder, if you had asked me a month ago I would have said that was not possible, we had some results go our way from other teams and also we have done a good job, we have won seven games in a row.”

Hill said his side was looking forward to taking on the Tasmanian sides this weekend.

“Hobart did a great job for us, they beat Sandringham on Sunday which helped us massively, so they are pretty good, their position on the ladder is not great, they have had a bunch of injuries like a lot of teams,” he said.

“But they are very dangerous, as are North West Tassie.

Hobart are a chance at play offs but they would have to win out so they will be red hot on Friday night.

“North West Tassie surprisingly had a bunch of injuries too, there are so many games in such a short time.”

Hill said he was pleased with his side’s successful home double header, which attracted strong crowds on both Friday night and Sunday afternoon.

“Friday night was unbelievable, there was a massive crowd and a good crowd on Sunday given it was Sunday afternoon,” he said.

“We played really well in both games in the first halves, but really did not play great after half time in either one of those games, but I was really pleased with the guys.

“We did a great job against Bendigo, they got back from 25 to about eight and we did a great job of getting that out to 30 again, that was encouraging.”

Hill said while his immediate focus was on the next four games, the club had an eye on the finals series and maintaining a top two position.

“We have got four tough games in a short time and we are going to need to win three of those to make sure we finish in that spot,” he said.

“Top two is fantastic, you are guaranteed two home finals, top four you are guaranteed one home final and if you are not in the top four you get a home final but if you lose you are out.”

The OneFortyOne Pioneers women will take the court against the Hobart Chargers tomorrow night, before travelling to play the Launceston Tornadoes on Saturday night.

The Chargers are 15th on the ladder, with the Tornadoes in 14th.

OneFortyOne Pioneers head coach Matt Sutton said his team was in for a challenging double header this weekend.

“Both teams are talented with inside and outside threats, we are going to have to be up for the challenge and be positive when it comes to dealing with some travel, which the group always is,” he said.

“It is tough for preparation, we are on the road with some travel components in there, it’s going to be a really busy time preparing, with recovery in amongst that as well with our on-court training.”

Sutton said the club had enjoyed a successful weekend in Mount Gambier, with his team only just losing to Bendigo, before having a comprehensive victory over Dandenong.

The women also welcomed import Zitina Aokusa to the court for her first competitive minutes.

“We were happy to get her on court, she probably played too much due to where we were at with foul trouble, but we’re really happy with the way she moved and what she was able to provide over the weekend,” Sutton said.

“Bendigo is a tough side, we did some good things defensively, there were some areas we did not quite capitalise on, partly foul trouble, partly missing good shots, partly taking bad shots, so there’s plenty for us to review.

“It was a big weekend for the club with the 2003 reunion and acknowledging that, the club did a great job acknowledging our major sponsors, it was a really good weekend for the club.”