THE Mount Gambier Pioneers have solidified a home South East Australian Basketball League East Conference grand final in a fortnights time after a solid 11-point victory over Nunawading Spectres at the Icehouse on Friday night.
While the Pioneers led at every break, the eventual deficit does not reflect the competitiveness of the semi-final.
Mount Gambier captain Tom Daly was able to draw first blood in the play-off, which had the Pioneers crowd on their feet early.
However, a determined Nunawading outfit did not hold back bringing the scores back to level – after the deficit reached five – with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
American import Daniel Alexander put the hosts back in front, his jump shot was followed by Brad Hill going to the hoop and the Pioneers had a lead of four.
Nunawading’s Simon Conn – showing his league MVP form – tipped the ball into the hoop to take the deficit back to two.
But a shot from Hill outside the three-point arc allowed the Pioneers to hold a five-point advantage at the first break.
The Spectres fired up in the opening minutes to not only level the scores, but take the lead.
Three-pointers from both Daly and Jack Madgen returned the Pioneers’ momentum and they were able to snatch back the lead.
Conn continued to cause headaches for the host side, with his accuracy keeping Nunawading in contention.
However, Mount Gambier soon found their form from outside the three-point arc with Madgen sinking the big shot, before Hill knocked down two.
As a result the Pioneers extended their lead to seven by half time.
Mount Gambier continued to shoot the ball well from outside and find a way to the hoop to bring their lead out to 15 mid-way through the term.
Nunawading tried to get back into the game, but each time it did, the Pioneers would reply.
Hill knocked down 13 points for the quarter and Mount Gambier held an 11-point lead at the final break.
An early surge by Nunawading brought the deficit back to six points mid-way through the term, but again the Pioneers were accurate when it mattered most.
Jamieson, Daly and Madgen were able to find the hoop from outside the three-point arc, while Alexander sunk his free-throws to bring the lead back out to 11 points with a minute remaining.
Jamieson drew the foul and went to the line to also shoot two-from-two and the difference was 13.
A late layup from Conn brought the deficit back to 11 points by the final siren.
Pioneers coach Richard Hill said he was pleased with the outcome on Friday night.
“We came out strong,” he said.
“Tom Daly was really good in the first quarter and Brad Hill was shooting the ball well.
“We knocked down some threes early and Tom was able to get to the ring.
“It was good from an offensive point of view and we were solid from that first quarter defensively.”
Hill said Nunawading was never out of reach and reduced the deficit each quarter – particularly due to the dominance of Conn who finished the match with 27 points – but the Pioneers composure allowed them to again take control.
“We thought it was an even ball game going into halftime,” he said.
“We spoke about a few things we needed to pick up in a couple of areas and we were able to.
“We were playing good basketball, but it was not an easy task by any stretch.”
Hill thought Mount Gambier’s best quarter was its third where the lead stretched out to 15 points.
However, the Spectres fight soon reduced the deficit back to six.
“It was a pretty tight ball game,” Hill said.
“They kept coming back, but then we would find a way to stretch the lead back out.
“We shot the ball unbelievably well, which certainly helps, that was our key ingredient to our win.”
In the opening half Nunawading was kept in the game through Conn, who had 19 points at the long break.
“Simon was a headache for us and we spoke about that at halftime,” Hill said.
“The second half we did a much better job as a team and were able to slow him down.
“That was the difference in the game, we couldn’t continue to enable him to score at the level he was and expect to win.
“Luke Jamieson did a very good job in the second half to shut him out.”
Brad Hill top scored with 29 points, while Daly had 22, but Richard Hill said it was a solid team effort.
“Tom came out aggressively, he got to the ring and set the tone,” he said.
“I am sure they were fired up and a bit anxious, but they didn’t show it in their play.
“Those guys rarely play poor games, whether they score or not.
“They rarely put in a poor performance when it is important to us.”
Daniel Alexander managed yet another double-double on Friday night with 14 points and 12 rebounds – with 10 of them at the defensive end of the court.
“He has been playing really well,” Hill said.
“From an offensive point of view, the way they defended us really opened up our perimetre guys, which meant he probably wasn’t going to be a focal point from a scoring perspective.
“But he certainly was in terms of defending and rebounding.”
Hill said all of his starters were impressive over the four quarters, which led them to a grand final berth.
“Our starters played big minutes because they were playing so well,” he said.
“Normally we would use our bench a little more, but we didn’t on Friday night because all our starters were having good games.”
With the East Conference grand final in their sites, the Pioneers will now go ahead with “business as usual” to prepare for the match on their home court.
“We will do some hard work this week and on the weekend, then freshen up for the grand final either against Nunawading or Geelong,” Hill said.
