Trevor Jackson
THE Mount Gambier Pioneers men advanced to the next round of NBL1 South playoffs after a hard-fought victory over Kilsyth Cobras on Friday.
Despite the women travelling to Melbourne for their playoff game on Sunday, the Icehouse was still packed to capacity for the men.
An impressive performance from Nick Marshall highlighted the 10-point victory.
Marshall finished the game with a double-double consisting of 18 points and 16 rebounds to help keep the ball in the Pioneers’ hands.
It started early as Tom Kubank put up the first points of the game and from there it became a shootout.
Four minutes in the Cobras held a six-point lead but the Pioneers then went on a 13-0 run to hold a handy seven-point advantage.
The Cobras responded but a classy hook shot from Jordan Rawls and a triple to Michael Harris put the Pioneers eight points clear at the first break.
The second term was played in a similar fashion, with an early triple to Rawls followed by a crowd-pleasing dunk to Kubank as the Pioneers began to strengthen their advantage.
With four minutes to play in the term the Cobras had hit back and trailed by just with points, before a pair of free throws to Kubank, followed by a triple to Kane de Wit returned the status quo.
With two minutes to play in the term a triple to de Wit blew the lead out to 19 points and the Cobras struggled to recover.
By the long break the margin was 14 points and the Pioneers were in control.
The Cobras managed to close the margin somewhat in the third term, partly due to a late three.
By the final break the Pioneers still held a handy nine-point advantage and were not about to give that in the final stanza.
Try as they might, the Cobras could not close the margin and the Pioneers ran out 94-84 victors.
Harris topped the scoresheets for the home side with 21 points, Kubank finished with 17, de Wit 13, Rawls 12 and Clevon Brown 11.
Coach Richard Hill said he was pleased with the contribution across the board.
“It was a good game of basketball and we played pretty well,” he said.
“We have had a busy schedule going into the playoffs with a lot of tough games and that didn’t hurt us.
“We have growing over the last month.
“I have been pleased and hopefully there is still some room for improvement.”
As for Marshall’s efforts, Hill said he had a solid game.
“He rebounded the ball well and worked unbelievably hard,” he said.
Since that game the Pioneers have been preparing for their preliminary final clash on Sunday at the Icehouse, with the opponent unknown until Friday night’s final between Sandringham Sabres and Frankston Blues is played.
There have been some disruptions, with Marshall in Adelaide training with the 36ers, while Harris has been in Perth with the Wildcats.
Both will be back for Sunday’s game.
Not knowing the opponent for the preliminary final also makes it tough for Hill to prepare his game plan but he said that is not a major issue.
“It is a bit of a funny feeling but we have focused on ourselves for a few days, then late Friday night we will know what is going on,” he said.
“I have to do two lots of scouts … when you play different opponents there are different elements but nothing changes dramatically for us.
“We have a system in place we are comfortable with.
“We will just fine tune it depending on which opponent we face.”
At the end of the season a national crown is also up for grabs, which Hill said he would worry about if the chance arises.
Sunday’s game tips off at 1.30pm, Central Standard time.
