THE Mount Gambier Pioneers are the toast of the town yet again, after claiming a thrilling three-point victory in the South East Australian Basketball League championship playoff Friday night at the Icehouse.
It was a game the swung in the balance until the final play of the night with just seconds remaining.
In the end the Pioneers did enough to claim the win over a tough Nunawading Spectres and advance to the national playoff Saturday night.
It was a fitting contest for the final conference playoff series in the SEABL, with a new format in place for coming season, which sees one main competition throughout the year.
The see-sawing contest saw the Spectres lead by a solitary point at the first break, before the Pioneers stepped up the pace in the second stanza.
With six minutes gone the Pioneers had turned their fortunes around, leading by 11 points and threatening to blow the championship match apart.
They held sway for the remainder of the term, until a pair of two-point baskets to Simon Conn put the visitors back within six at the long break.
Tom Daly extended the lead early in the third term, but Dain Swetalla dropped a three for the visitors to close the margin again.
Erik Burdon then joined in with a two, going basket-for-basket with Swetalla, before a pair of free throws to Conn closed the margin to just three points.
John Jones began to use his big frame to advantage, keeping the Pioneers slim lead, but the game was soon tied up with under three minutes to play in the term.
With two seconds remaining Daly found a two-point basket to take the lead to four, but Shane McDonald drained a three on the buzzer for the visitors, with smallest of margins separating the two sides at the final break.
The final stanza was set for an epic showdown and it did not disappoint.
Daly stretched the lead to five just three minutes in, but the Spectres again responded, with the scores tied soon after off an Andrew Steel three.
Mid-way through the term Steel stole the lead for the visitors, but Luke Jamieson responded with a three-point bucket to wrestle it back.
Conn returned serve for the lead again, but a timely three from Brad Hill saw the home side again with the advantage.
McDonald tied the game up yet again for the visitors, before a pair of free throws to Daniel Alexander gave the Pioneers the lead once more.
With 40 seconds on the clock, McDonald drained a three-point basket to put the visitors to within a point.
Alexander went to the line and put the Pioneers three points clear with just seconds remaining, which saw a long shot on the buzzer by the Spectres fail to achieve the desired results.
Daly topped the score sheets for the Pioneers with 21 points, along with an impressive 11 assists, while Luke Jamieson managed 19 points.
Alexander finished with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The crowd had witnessed an epic battle and rose as one as the final buzzer sounded, most aware of the historic occasion.
Head coach Richard Hill said it was a game typical of the season, where certain players stood tall when they needed to, which ensured the team was in the right position at the end of the night.
“I look back and think Tom Daly had a great game, Luke Jameison played an unbelievable game and all of our other guys chipped in,” he said.
“Brad played a good game and even though he didn’t put a lot on the board, he was marshalling the troops out there.
“Daniel probably didn’t have his best game, but John came in and probably had his biggest impact on a game for the year.
“I always had a feeling he would help us win an important game … he might help us win another one next week.”
Hill said the victory hinged on defending Spectres veteran Conn, who finished the night with game-high 27 points for the Spectres.
“It took us 37 minutes to find out how we wanted to defend Simon Conn,” he said.
“We tried numerous things throughout the game and none of them worked, but we kept trying, made a couple of little adjustments and found something I think was the difference in the end.
“We got two key stops because of what the guys did and were able to score at the other end.”
Despite being just three points up in the dying stages of the game, Hill said there was no panic among his players, with all focused on the job at hand.
“If you panic you are not going to win,” he said.
“They didn’t panic and we didn’t panic.
“There were some unbelievably big plays down the stretch and we made good decisions when it mattered.”
Hill said it was an amazing feeling to claim another conferenced title and head back to the national playoff.
“We have won five in a row which is pretty amazing,” he said.
“I think now we have won nine out of nine finals on our home court, on top of our home-court record.
“That is a lot of winning and it is not easy to do.”
In the wash up to all the success, Hill said he felt it was important to the city of Mount Gambier as much as to the team.
“I think for the town, I see the people here and the last 12 months or so hasn’t been that good,” he said.
“There haven’t been a lot of good news stories.
“The Pioneers are the best news story in town, without a doubt, not just because we win basketball games, but because they are good guys and an enormous part of the community.
“I feel privileged that I can coach them, but I also see what they do outside of the court.
“For me they are the shining light of Mount Gambier at the moment and we can probably do with some of that.”
