The Castec Rural Pioneers are set to hit the court tomorrow night as they host the Waverley Falcons at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre in an Anzac Day clash.
Prior to the Easter break the Pioneers had a great weekend at home where they won back to back games and improved their record to 4-1.
Heading into this game the Falcons have had a solid start to the season as they sit with a record of 3-1.
The Falcons have been a high scoring team in their four games, averaging 94 points a match.
Mount Gambier will have some tough assignments to stop Waverley who have several players who can light up the court.
Their top scorer so far this season has been Malik Meunier who is averaging 17.75 PPG while also averaging 3.5 assists a game.
Another who will give the Pioneers bigs some problems will be Mason Forbes who is averaging 17.25 PPG along with leading the team in rebounds with 7.50 and blocks with 1.25 a game.
The Pioneers will match up well against the Falcons’ scoring power as Mount Gambier has six players averaging 10 or more points.
Star forward Akech Aliir leads the way for the Pioneers in several categories as he is averaging 21 points, nine rebounds and a block a game.
Austin Shelley is another Pioneers player who has started the season well, having produced at both ends of the court this year, averaging 13.80 PPG along with 2.40 steals a game.
Shelley has also shot the ball well to start the season, shooting 50% from three and knocking down 14 for the season so far, averaging 2.80 threes a game.
Pioneers head coach Richard Hill believes tomorrow night’s match will be a good challenge for his side as they go up against an in-form Waverley team.
“We had a really good weekend before Easter which was encouraging for us,” he said.
“Waverley are in pretty good form, they’re three and one and they have got a pretty good line up.
“They have got some good size and pretty good guards, but if we play well then we’re going to be good enough to win but if we do not then they’re currently good enough as well so it’s going to be tough.”
With both sides being evenly matched, Hill believes Aliir will be the difference on his home court on Friday night.
“Akech is always difficult for the opposition to slow down with his mobility and ability to score in many different ways,” he said.
“So that’s always our strongest advantage regardless of who we’re playing, he’s going to be giving them headaches for sure.
“Other than the match ups are pretty even, they have got some really high level guards.
“They have got a tremendous import guard and a really good Australian point guard so we need to be able to slow those two down in particular.”
Hill believes his side’s defence has been a standout area so far this season with some work on the offensive end still to be done.
“Our defence has been high level, we have been the best rated defence statically in the competition quite easily so we have been able to slow teams down,” he said.
“Offence is an area we need to continue to get better at, we want our defence to be better as well but that’s been holding up and has been consistent in every game, but our offence needs to improve and our ability to execute when the pressure is on.”
