The OneFortyOne Pioneers women split their results in a tough double header weekend of matches at home.
The Pioneers hosted the Knox Raiders on Friday night, matching it with the ladder leaders for the majority of the game, before going down by three.
They backed up on Saturday night at Wulanda, this time against the Melbourne Tigers, who they managed to comprehensively defeat.
The Pioneers took to the court on Friday night without tall timber Zitina Aokuso, who was in Melbourne on Opals squad duties.
The much anticipated rematch against the Raiders, who fell to the Pioneers early in the season, attracted a solid crowd, with Knox only having lost one other game for the season and ensuring a tough challenge for Mount Gambier.
The Raiders burst out of the blocks, knocking down two consecutive three pointers and moving to an 8-0 lead, while holding the Pioneers scoreless for almost three minutes.
It took Sherrie Calleia to reply with two of her own threes to get the Pioneers in the game, with the match tied up at 8-all half way through the quarter.
The Pioneers grabbed the lead for a brief period, before the Raiders again found range from outside with a pair of threes to be up 14-10.
However, Mount Gambier rallied and pushed out to a 21-16 lead at the first break.
Knox rallied in the opening half of the second quarter, outscoring the Pioneers 9-4 to tie things up at 25-all.
But Mount Gambier fought back, going on a 13-4 run to finish the stanza with a 10 point lead, 40-30.
The third quarter was a hard fought affair, as Sammy Fatkin, Haleigh Reinoehl and Isabella Brancatisano found range from outside.
Scoring was hard to come by, with both sides registering 14 points for the quarter, with the Pioneers retaining their 10 point lead at the final change.
Mount Gambier pulled away from the visitors in the opening five minutes of play, increasing their buffer to 13 points.
However, the Raiders showed why they are top of the table, restricting the Pioneers to only four points while piling on 20 of their own, to take the win 68-65.
Reinoehl top scored for the hosts with 19 points, with Calleia chipping in 17 and Brancatisano 14.
The Pioneers bounced back from Friday night’s narrow loss with a victory over the visiting Melbourne Tigers.
Supporters were buoyed by the return of Aokuso, who absolutely made her presence felt.
Mount Gambier showed their determination to return to the winners list early, leaping to a 6-0 lead while holding Melbourne scoreless for the opening three minutes of play.
The visitors regained their composure and started to find the basket, sending down a barrage of seven three pointers to tie the game up 26-all at the first break.
The sides traded baskets when play resumed, as the Tigers continued to land shots from outside the arc to snatch the lead before the Pioneers rallied and drew level at 37-all half way through.
Mount Gambier surged again, outscoring Melbourne 13-6 for the last five minutes of play to take a seven point lead into the main break, up 50-43.
Scoring ground to a half in the opening two minutes of the third, until Fatkin landed a three to open proceedings, while it took another two minutes before the Tigers troubled the scorers.
The Tigers could not get their shots to drop, while Mount Gambier went on an 18-2 run, holding Melbourne to just 10 points for the quarter, while scoring 29 of their own.
The Pioneers took a 26 point lead into the last period, and worked hard to build on it, again outscoring the visitors 29-19 for the quarter.
Head coach Matt Sutton cleared his bench in the final minutes of play, sending his young bench on to see out the quarter.
Calleia had another standout game, scoring 30 points as the Pioneers took the win 108-72.
Aokuso’s return netted her a double double with 26 points and 14 rebounds, Brancatisano contributed 18, Reinoehl 14 and Fatkin 12.
Aokuso, who learned on the weekend she had been cut from the final Opals Olympics team, having spent several months as a member of the Olympics squad, was delighted to take the court for Mount Gambier on Saturday night.
Aokuso spoke to The SE Voice after Saturday night’s win and outlined her joy at being back on court.
“I love the Mount Gambier team and I love the culture,” she said.
“I was really happy to drive down and was super excited the whole time, I’m happy to be home.
“It was a huge improvement tonight from last night, I think they were pretty disappointed about it so we made sure we got the job done tonight.”
Aokuso said her side was in good position to play finals, given their fixture included eight games in a 24 day sprint to the major round.
“It’s very hectic, I think everyone is willing and able to do it and I think we are mentally tough enough,” she said.
“I think we are locked in still, so I think we can get the job done.”
Aokuso said the Pioneers were now her main focus, having just missed out on making the final Opals side.
“I think LJ (Lauren Jackson) guided me a lot during that time, there were a lot of things I learned, I’m happy to come back and help the girls,” she said.
The Pioneers will host the Ringwood Hawks on Friday night, for the last round of the home and away season.
