By Trevor Jackson
A STRONG second quarter set up a comfortable 91-77 victory for the Mount Gambier Pioneers men on Friday night at Wulanda.
The Pioneers hosted Diamond Valley Eagles and the game began as a basket-for-basket contest in the opening term, with nothing separating the two sides at the first break.
However, the Pioneers stood up in the second term and blew the game apart, with a big 30-point term, while holding the Eagles to just 13.
from there it was again an even contest, with the Eagles winning the final term, but the Pioneers had done enough to claim the victory.
Not one Pioneers stood out on the scoreboard, with Tom Kubank back on track, with a game-high 17 points.
Austin Shelley, Jacob Lampkin and Julian Pesava hit 15 points each, while William Mayfield finished with 13.
Lampkin’s figures included another double-double, with his 15 points and 13 rebounds, none of those at the defensive end of the floor.
Leonard HarperBaker fell just short of a double-double in his last game for the Pioneers, with eight points and nine rebounds to add to the firepower off the bench.
Coach Richard Hill was pleased with the result, describing the Eagles as a a solid team.
“It was a tough game,” he said.
“We played really well in the second quarter and early in the third, but we couldn’t shake them.
“We got out to about a 21-point lead and they kept hanging around.
“We couldn’t put them away properly … you don’t expect to put these teams away because they are all tough.
“It was a good win with good contributions across the board for us.”
The Pioneers hit the floor running, as did the Eagles and despite the scores tied up at the first break, Hill was pleased with the work ethic.
From there he said it simply came together.
“We played solid in the first quarter, but made a few mistakes and didn’t make shots,” Hill said.
“The second quarter we got rolling, knocked down some threes and played good defence.
“We kept them to 13 and scored 30 ourselves, which was just a combination of all things coming together at the same time.”
Early in the third term the Eagles changed up the defence and the Pioneers struggled to overcome it.
However, a combination of good defence and some run up the court kept the Pioneers in front.
But it was under the basket where the Pioneers struggled to compete against the much-taller Eagles.
At the offensive end of the floor the Pioneers pulled down 12 rebounds, while in contrast, the Eagles grabbed 20.
That gave the visitors plenty of extra chances to score.
“They are the best rebounding team in the competition and touched us up on the boards really,” Hill said.
“But we are a small team at the moment.
“They had more shots than we had but we were just a bit more effective.”
The individual player scoring figures suggested a typical Pioneers’ game, with five in double figures and no big nights for any one player.
Hill said that is even more important at the moment with Nick Marshall out of action.
“We need to be like that with Nick not playing,” he said.
“He is a high-level scorer, so you have to share the workload a bit.
We had five in double figures which was solid and that is how we have played historically.”
Some of the size issues with the team will be addressed this week when Titus Robinson returns to the squad.
Robinson has played previously with the Pioneers and married a Mount Gambier girl when he first came out from the USA.
“Titus has to play this weekend to qualify,” Hill said.
“He has been playing in Greece and we are lucky to have him come in.
“He has the size and athleticism we lack a bit.
“Bringing Titus in and hopefully Nick will be back next week, so we will have a good team on paper.
“How that gels on the court we don’t know yet.”
Despite a tough period through the middle of the season, Hill is still hopeful of a top-four position when the minor rounds are done and dusted.
“We want to string together some wins and get a top-four spot,” he said.
“Losing five in a row has made it difficult for us and we were very undermanned through that period.
“I think we can make the top four, but we have to do everything right.
“We don’t have much margin for error.”
