The Castec Rural Mount Gambier Pioneers men’s team has been to hell and back in the last few years from lost finals and COVID-19 cancellations, but all of the pain to be worth it if they can taste victory this Saturday.

In the side’s first full campaign in the new competition, the Pioneers have stormed into the NBL1 South Grand Final and are on the verge of something special.

Victory against the Hobart Chargers at the State Basketball Centre on Saturday night will be the club’s fifth championship and the fourth under the guidance of coach Richard Hill.

Despite winning three titles in four years between 2014-17, the Mount Gambier Pioneers will be out to right the wrongs of its previous grand final experience.

In 2019 the Pioneers were the dominant force in the SA Premier League, but fell to the Forestville Eagles in the decider.

Erik Burdon and Tom Daly are the only surviving members from that side, but two former Eagles are now playing key roles for the team they defeated three years ago in Kane de Wit and Michael Harris.

Harris has grown to become one of the most respected shooters in the competition and has since been picked up by the Perth Wildcats.

He has formed a brilliant shooting partnership with fellow NBL player Nick Marshall, but Mount Gambier was not the highest scoring NBL1 team just because of two players.

The likes of Clevon Brown, Tom Kubank and Jordan Rawls are all big threats for the basket as well.

Meanwhile de Wit has stepped up to be the playmaker and perform a greater role within the team, with captain Tom Daly still on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury.

While the loss of Daly has been unfortunate, the Pioneers have not allowed it to slow their finals charge down, getting the better of Kilsyth and Sandringham at The Icehouse.

The latest was last weekend’s preliminary final where a red-hot Sabres side threatened to spoil the party.

With big men David Barlow and David Okwera in full flight, Sandringham was fighting toe-to-toe with the Pioneers and only three points split the rivals on the scoreboard at half time.

But Mount Gambier hit top gear in the third term, with a team-first performance blowing the Sabres away and they could not find a response.

The Pioneers continued their charge and secured a grand final berth with a comfortable 88-62 win, with coach Hill putting the win down to a near-perfect quarter of basketball.

“We have to remember the Sabres were down on some quality players, but they were good enough to beat a very strong Frankston team,” he said.

“We felt like we were in control of the game, but we made a few errors and kept giving them opportunities.

“Then in the third quarter we pretty much played the perfect quarter from a defensive point of view.

“We outscored them 28-10 which was very pleasing and the game was pretty much over at that point.”

With the win sealed well before the final buzzer, the big crowd was allowed to collectively celebrate the Pioneers’ success with the side not only on the way to a grand final, but also about to say farewell to original home of basketball – The Icehouse.

Hill admitted it was hard not to get caught up in the moment with the much-loved venue providing so many happy memories, especially for the men in playoffs.

“The last few minutes of the game were pretty special because it has been such a tremendous home for us,” he said.

“In my time we are 13-0 in playoff games at home which is unheard of.

“We think our fans have given us a lot of unbelievable support, so I was nostalgic and you can never replace the venue in terms of emotion, but the facilities need to be moved on.”

The team that awaits the Pioneers in the big dance is the Hobart Chargers, who were crowned minor premiers.

The Chargers know how to hurt Mount Gambier after claiming a thrilling win at The Icehouse in round 9 where a huge 43-point haul from Harry Froling proved decisive.

Since then Hobart toppled Sandringham and Kilsyth in the qualifying and preliminary finals respectively with AJ Harris and Ole Angerstein also performing.

If the Pioneers are to lift the NBL1 South trophy, Hill said the team needed to play at an even higher level than it had in the recent successful weeks.

“We have been talking a lot about our connection and how we deal with difficult situations,” he said.

“We have worked very hard to try and get that right and at this minute the team is unbelievably well connected and planned, so hopefully we can keep doing that for a bit longer.

“Hobart has three imports and three proper NBL players, so they go six deep and we do not have the same amount of experience.

“But we still think we can find a way to win.

“We are continuing to improve every game and still think we can play better.”

Although the big decider will be played at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne, Pioneers fans can tune in on the NBL1 website from 7.30pm.