THE Mount Gambier Pioneers men’s and women’s teams held their last pre-season hit outs on the weekend as they prepare for the upcoming Premier League season.
The season tips off this weekend, with games on Saturday and Sunday against North Adelaide and Sturt.
The weekend saw the women on court at the Icehouse in a game situation for the first time with mixed results.
An undermanned team Saturday night claimed a big win over Eastern Mavericks, while the game went down to the wire on Sunday, with the Pioneers women going down by a slim margin.
Across the weekend American import Amanda Frost showed her true value, as did the likes of Emily Winter, Maddy Wormald and a host of young rising stars who stepped up to the plate.
That included youngsters Emily Dawe, Claire Hunter, Mikaela Horrigan and Keryl Ousey, who all stood up to the high level of competition.
Meanwhile the men headed to Adelaide to face the Mavericks and Norwood.
That resulted in a tight win over the Mavericks, before a 10-point loss to Norwood.
Mixed individual performances came across the weekend, with the usual suspects in Erik Burdon and Tom Daly returning good games.
Brad Rathjen continued his solid return to the sport, while American import DayJar Dickson had an up-and-down performance.
Men’s coach Richard Hill said he was again pleased with the performance of Braiden Ousey, while Lachie Hunter stood up to the challenge.
The big news is American import Kentrell Barkley is set to join the team this week after being cleared to head down under by immigration, but may not take to the floor in the opening round this weekend.
Both sides are yet to be complete, but early indications are they should provide plenty of entertainment for the home fans when they venture to the Icehouse.
The first home game is set down for March 16.
