The Mount Gambier Pioneers came home empty handed after a NBL1 South conference double header road trip to Victoria on the weekend.
The OneFortyOne Pioneers women were defeated by the Geelong Supercats on Saturday night 85-74, and fell agonisingly short against the Melbourne Tigers on Sunday afternoon, going down 67-65.
The Castec Rural Pioneers men also had a narrow loss to the Supercats on Saturday night, with the final score 106-105, before being soundly beaten by the Melbourne Tigers on Sunday, 100-76.
The losses knocked the Pioneers men from top position on the ladder and into third, ending their 6-0 winning streak.
The Pioneers women also slipped from third position down to fifth following the weekend’s matches.
The women went into Saturday night’s match without injured captain Cassandra Brown and the high scoring Miela Goodchild, who was in Israel playing in the 3×3 World Cup qualifier.
The OneFortyOne Pioneers burst out of the blocks,
with Sherrie Calleia and Haleigh Reinoehl knocking down three pointers, as neither side missed a shot in the opening two minutes of play.
The teams exchanged the lead several times, with Mount Gambier’s sharp shooters sending down seven three pointers in the opening stanza, to be up 25-23 at the first break.
The Supercats clawed their way back into the game in the second quarter, snatching the lead with just under seven minutes to play, before pulling away to be in front by nine at half time, 51-40.
The Pioneers could not quite match it with their opposition in the third, with the Supercats scoring 20 points to the Mount Gambier side’s 14, to be down 54-71 at the final change.
The Pioneers, led by Isabella Brancatisano, staged a fightback in the fourth quarter, slashing the lead back to nine with two minutes to play.
But it was too little too late, and the Supercats took the win 85-74.
Brancatisano top scored for the game with 35 points, with Calleia contributing 24 and Reinoehl 12.
In Sunday’s match, the Melbourne Tigers women started the game at a frantic pace, with Pioneers Keryl Ousey and Reinoehl sending down three pointers to stay in touch.
The Tigers were up 9-8 half way through the quarter, before the Pioneers took the lead thanks to big outside shots from Brancatisano, Edie Easterby, who scored three three pointers in a minute to be up 17-9 with just under four minutes to play.
Melbourne called a time out to stop the Pioneers’ run, before going on a 6-0 run of their own.
Easterby broke the Tigers’ momentum with another three pointer, followed quickly by Ousey, to take a 23-18 lead into the first break.
Easterby opened the second quarter with another three pointer, blowing the Pioneers’ lead out to eight.
However, the Tigers refused to give in, going on their own 8-0 run to level the scores with seven minutes left to play.
Melbourne briefly reclaimed the lead, but the Pioneers stepped up a gear to get out to an eight-point lead, before going into the half time break up 44-39.
The Tigers outscored the Mount Gambier side 16-11 in the third quarter, with scores level at the last change.
The lead changed several times in the first half of the final stanza, with three pointers from Brancatisano and Reinoehl keeping the Pioneers in touch.
The Tigers stepped up the defensive pressure, leaving the Pioneers searching for scoring options and allowing Melbourne to hang on for the 67-65 win.
The Castec Rural Pioneers men took the court against Geelong on Saturday night without injured centre Jacob Lampkin but welcomed back Chris Seeley from injury.
The Supercats opened the scoring, before the Pioneers took the lead and held it for the opening five minutes of play, with Geelong then reclaiming the lead.
The home side’s sharp shooters put on a display, raining down eight three pointers in the opening quarter, taking a 32-27 lead into the break.
The Pioneers worked hard in the first three minutes of the second quarter, drawing level at 36-all, before briefly reclaiming the lead.
The sides exchanged baskets and the lead for the next few minutes, until the Supercats stepped up a gear to jump out to a 10-point lead.
Nick Marshall shot a three pointer right on the half time buzzer, with his side going into the break down 57-65.
Geelong held the Pioneers to only two points in the opening three minutes of play of the third quarter, while scoring 11 themselves, to be up 76-59.
The Pioneers rallied and cut the lead back to five with just under three minutes to play, but the Supercats regrouped and held an eight-point lead at the final change, 87-79.
Mount Gambier reduced the lead to three in the first minute of the fourth quarter, before Geelong got out to a seven point lead with six minutes remaining.
The Pioneers were not done though, digging deep to draw level at 97-all with just under four minutes left.
Geelong held off the Pioneers charge, to take a four-point lead before Mount Gambier again closed the gap to be 105-all with 23 seconds left on the clock.
Neither side could make the game winning basket, before a controversial technical foul was awarded against Mount Gambier, giving Geelong a free throw, which was converted and gave the Supercats a one-point win, 106-105.
Marshall was impressive on the night, top scoring with 37 points, Austin Shelley contributed 27, with Will Mayfield scoring 16.
The Pioneers men took the court against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon as the Melbourne team celebrated the 30th anniversary of its 1993 NBL title.
The Mount Gambier side opened the scoring in the first five seconds of the match, however the Tigers started at a blistering pace to race to an 18-4 lead halfway through the quarter.
The Pioneers reined the lead back to 10 at the first break, 28-18.
Seeley opened the second quarter proceedings with a dunk, however the Tigers kicked the lead out to 13 before the Pioneers set about reducing the margin to seven.
Julian Pesava did his best to keep the Pioneers in touch, sending down a pair of threes, while Seeley scored 16 in the opening half, however the Pioneers were down 42-53 at the main break.
The third quarter started with a technical foul against the Mount Gambier bench, with the Tigers outscoring the Pioneers 8-0 in the first three minutes of play to get out to a 19-point lead.
The Tigers shot 18 points to the Pioneers’ 14 for the quarter, taking a 25-point lead into the last break.
Both sides traded baskets in the fourth quarter, with the Pioneers managing to outscore the Tigers 20-19, however it was not enough and Melbourne took the win 100-76.
Marshall contributed 17 points, with Seeley 16 and Mayfield 14.
