Picture: NOEL BLACK
IT will be a case of chasing atonement for the Mount Gambier Pioneers women tomorrow night.
The women host the Eastern Mavericks in round 11 of the Basketball SA Premier League competition and will want to reverse last week’s result, which saw the side go down by nine points.
On their home court the Pioneers will want to impress, after some quality displays of basketball in front of big crowds so far this season.
Despite the loss to the Mavericks last week, captain Amanda Frost was again solid, with 28 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Olivia Wormald was another who had a strong game, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Emily Winter was somewhat quiet compared to some of her games this season, with a lot of pressure applied from opposing players.
It will take a big effort to reverse last week’s result, which coach Matt Sutton suggested was not helped by less-than-ideal preparation after a double road trip the previous week and a tough game last Saturday.
However, he said the team has worked hard this week at training and is ready to go.
“I guess it is a pretty unique scenario where you get the opportunity to play a team again really quickly,” he said.
“That might work in our favour.
“The girls are motivated and feel a bit disappointed with the last game, so they get the chance to rectify that straight away.”
As far as the preparation is concerned, Sutton said all was in place to provide a different result tomorrow night.
“I think we have had a really good week of preparation and I think we are ready to bounce back,” he said.
“We have watched some film and training has been good and competitive this week.
“We have addressed a few things and have some strategies in place.
“There are things we need to do better which we will try to improve on.
“I think the girls have a good mindset going into this week’s game,” Matt Sutton said.
Last Sunday American Pachis Roberts found herself in foul trouble, which Sutton said was an unfortunate result of the work she does around the hoop.
“We require a lot from her at both ends of the court,” he said.
“We ask her to play good strong defence and she might get a couple of unlucky fouls.
“She just got caught in the wrong position a couple of times last week, but she has been training hard and is ready to have a good game.”
Likewise Sutton said he asked a lot of Wormald, who he said had stood up to the pressure well.
“We ask a lot of her, to do a lot of the work that goes unnoticed,” she said.
“She plays really tough inside and she is often undersized.
“What we have been able to get out of her is really pleasing and we hope that continues.”
Winter came to the league with an impressive junior resume at representative level.
While her game last Sunday was somewhat quieter than may be expected of the young star, Sutton is confident she can work through any issues and come out a stronger player.
“Emily hit the league running and teams had not really seen her before,” he said.
“I think they are starting to think about how to defend her and take away some of her strengths.
“It will be fun to work with her to work around those issues and see how she reacts to it all.
“She takes feedback on board, listens and wants to improve.
“It will be fun to watch her take it all in her stride and see what she can produce over the next few weeks.”
Overall Sutton said he looks forward to the challenge tomorrow night at the Icehouse in what he hopes is another big crowd.
“We want to get back to playing really good team oriented basketball,” he said.
“There is every indication the girls will bounce back really well.
“The support has been amazing since we played our first practice game.
“We hope that can continue and we can put on a show that is worth watching.”
The game tips off at 6.30pm.
