Trevor Jackson
A THIRD-quarter run from the Hobart Chargers threatened to derail the Mount Gambier Pioneers women on Saturday night, as the two sides went head-to-head in Round 9 of NBL1 South basketball.
The Pioneers were off to a solid start and held the advantage up to the main break, going to the change rooms with a tentative three-point lead.
From there the Chargers began to make a run, with an 11-18 term to turn the game on its head.
With close to two minutes to play in the third quarter the Chargers had built a handy nine-point advantage and looked to have the momentum.
As the final stanza tipped off the Pioneers looked at a four-point deficit, soon reduced off a Hannah Young layup.
One successful free throw from Hobart stretched that again but a Jasmin Howe layup brought the deficit back to just one point, all within a minute of play.
A deadlock followed, with Young finally breaking the shackles with a two-point jumper for the lead.
Hobart levelled the scores with a free throw but a triple to Cassandra Brown had the Pioneers up again.
They stretched that to six points off a Howe triple, before Haleigh Reinoehl went to the charity stripe to ice the game, before Brown finished the contest in style with a late triple.
Sherrie Calleia returned to the court after a week out of action and top scored for the home side with15 points.
Brown again showed her versatility with a double-double, consisting of 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Howe also reached double figures with 10 points.
For coach Matt Sutton it was a tough challenge and when the chips were down his side stood up and did what was needed to secure the win.
“We made the plays when it was getting a bit dire at one stage,” he said.
“It was our best performed game but we made the plays when we had to and got the win.”
Sutton put much of the success down to the defensive plan which worked a treat.
“We kept them to under 50 and if you can do that in this league you are doing a good job,” he said.
“We were proud of that.
“We also generated a lot more shots than they did but didn’t convert.”
Sutton said in the third term when the Chargers were on a run it was a concern but he made a few adjustments which put the Pioneers back on track.
“We called a time out when it wasn’t going our way so we could make some adjustments and refocus,” he said.
“Our offence just wasn’t clicking and we weren’t putting the ball in the hoop as well as we should have.”
While the Pioneers are in a good position on the ladder, Sutton said it was simply a bad road trip which could derail the season, such is the competitive nature of the competition.
“It is just a really high level of basketball and we are fortunate to be sitting where we are,” he said.
“We face an WNBA MVP this week so hopefully everything clicks on Saturday night and we can get another win.”
