The Mount Gambier Pioneers continued their winning form at home on Saturday night, with both teams downing the Keilor Thunder in NBL1 South round three action.

The OneFortyOne Pioneers women comprehensively defeated the Thunder, while the Castec Rural Pioneers men ground out a solid win.

The evening was played as a special Anzac round, with Miela Goodchild and Jacob Lampkin awarded commemorative medallions as the best on court.

The women took the court without captain Cassandra Brown, with Keryl Ousey called on to fill in for the injured tall.

The Pioneers displayed their intentions early, winning the tip off and getting the ball into the hands of Imogen Rock, who sent down a smooth three-pointer to open proceedings in the first 15 seconds.

The women built a solid buffer in the opening four minutes of play, jumping to a 17-4 lead before Keilor sent down three three-pointers in just over 60 seconds.

However, the home team continued to apply the pressure, up 32-18 at quarter time, with Goodchild contributing 13 points and Haleigh Reinoehl nine.

Rock again hit the basket from deep for a three within a minute of play in the second quarter and kickstarted a huge offensive stanza for her side.

Keilor fought back with five three-pointers for the quarter, but the Pioneers slowly pulled away to have a 24-point lead at half-time, 60-36.

The third quarter started slowly compared to the first half, with only seven shots dropping in the opening five minutes.

Isabella Brancatisano brought the crowd to its feet with a huge three-pointer to increase the lead to 31 with four minutes to play, followed by Sherrie Calleia nailing another in the next play.

The atmosphere inside Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre intensified further as head coach Matt Sutton sent youngster Stella Mobbs, daughter of former Pioneer Shane Mobbs, onto the court, promptly followed by fellow local Ava Collins.

The Pioneers women ended the quarter up 77-47.

Both teams were kept scoreless in the opening two minutes of the last quarter, with the Thunder the first to score thanks to free throws.

Youngster Summer Millard took the court, and in the last five minutes of play was joined by fellow locals Edie Easterby, Cara Nulty and Tenielle Human.

The Pioneers maintained their lead and took the win 90-59 to retain their spot on top of the ladder with five wins.

Goodchild racked up 30 points for the match, with Reinoehl 17 and Rock 13.

Coach Sutton was pleased with the team’s performance without Brown, who will be out for several weeks with a wrist injury.

“We were happy with the results, we had some things we wanted to execute early in the game so we are happy with how we went,” he said.

“We have been working hard to make sure we have got some good depth to cover anything like this, so the girls did a good job.”

Sutton said the Thunder was not at full strength as they were awaiting more players to arrive.

“Keilor is not a complete group, they have got some big pieces to come in, they are young and have an import who only arrived that week,” he said.

“We probably got them on a good night for us, we exposed some strength for us and were able to put some young kids on for us and give them some court time.

“We enjoy the opportunity to develop them.

“Miela had a good game, scored well early and I thought Haleigh’s influence at both ends of the court was great and she stepped up in the absence of Cass.”

The Castec Rural Pioneers men took the court without forward Chris Seeley, who had suffered an injury in the lead up to the match.

The Thunder won the tip off and big man Oliver Hayes-Brown sent the ball in for a three within the first 15 seconds of play, signalling their determination to deny the home side a win.

Keilor held the lead early, until Pioneer Nick Marshall thrilled the crowd with a dunk to be up 8-7.

The sides exchanged baskets, before Pioneers captain Kane de Wit sent down a three-pointer to have his side up 21-15, with Will Mayfield hitting another a minute later.

Keilor upped the ante, going on a 7-0 scoring run to rein in the Pioneers’ lead to two, with Marshall nailing a huge three on the buzzer to have the home side up 31-36 at quarter time.

The Pioneers pushed their lead out to nine in the first two minutes of the second quarter, but Keilor rallied, going on a quick 8-0 scoring spree to be down 37-36 before a quick two from the Pioneers.

However, the Thunder was not done yet, regaining the lead with six minutes to play.

Scores were level half way through the quarter, with Pioneers head coach Richard Hill calling a time out to stop the Keilor run.

The ploy worked, with the Pioneers stepping up their attack to outscore the Thunder 17-4 to lead 61-48 at half time.

Marshall scored 19 for the half, with Lampkin 12 and de Wit 10.

Keilor returned to the court after the break with determination, outscoring the home side 8-2 in the opening three minutes of play.

A Pioneers time out halted the run, with both sides then trading baskets before the Pioneers went on a 6-2 run to open the game up slightly.

Mayfield tipped in a cute two on the three-quarter time buzzer to have his side in front by 10, 77-67 at the last break.

The Pioneers piled on 13 points to Keilor’s two in the first four minutes of play to blow their lead out to 21.

The lead extended to 26, with Hill bringing on local youngsters Zach Nulty, Harry Mules and Toby de Wit with three minutes left in the game, much to the delight of the crowd.

The trio was joined by Ben Young, with Nulty knocking down two points, Young hitting a free throw and de Wit scoring two points with only seconds left on the clock to take the win 106-82.

Lampkin finished the game with 21 points and 14 rebounds, Nick Marshall was held to only one point in the second half to finish the match with 20 and 12 rebounds, with Mayfield contributing 16.

The Pioneers remain undefeated with a 5-0 record and Coach Hill said he was pleased with his side’s efforts on Saturday night.

“It was a very good win, a tough game where the scores did not really tell the tale of the game,” he said.

“It was 44-all with about five minutes to go in the first half, we went on a 17-4 run and led by 13 at half-time and they got back to within five in the third quarter.

“We were able to get away again and they ran out of gas, we were a bit too much for them.”

Hill said while Nick Marshall scored 19 points in the first half and was restricted to just one point in the second, there were other players who took scoring opportunities, with Marshall leading the team in rebounding and assists.

“Jacob had a really good game, he had a battle with an opponent who was probably his equal and Jacob came out on top,” he said.

“Our last two games against Frankston and Keilor we have stepped up significantly on our work, we are very happy.”