By Trevor Jackson
SUPPORTERS at the Wulanda Centre were treated to something special on the weekend as the Pioneers women claimed two wins in Round 2 of the NBL1 South season.
Not only that, they witnessed a heart-stopping victory by the women on Sunday, as the game went down to the wire.
Firstly the women easily accounted for the Frankston Blues on Saturday night, with a dominant 85-53 scoreline, then backed up on Sunday against the Ballarat Miners where the 67-64 result was not decided until the final buzzer sounded.
The Pioneers led at every break on Saturday night against the Blues, who had played a double-overtime game just a couple of days prior.
However, Mount Gambier certainly took up the challenge, with opposing player Stephanie Reid having dropped 46 points in that game.
She was held to just 13 against the Pioneers as they simple closed the Blues down and found the basket with regularity.
And opening 17-10 first term set the scene for the win, but but the Blues refocused for the second term. However, the Pioneers still returned a 21-17 result, followed by a 26-14 third quarter and finished off with a 21-12 final stanza to ice the game.
Double figure scores came from all five starters, with Haliegh Reinoehl topping the list with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
She was joined in double-double territory by Zitina Aokuso with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Isabella Brancatisano contributed 17 points, Sherrie Calleia 15 and Samantha Fatkin 12.
Coach Matt Sutton was pleased with the result, despite the workload of the Blues leading up to the game.
“We were certainly happy with the result,” he said.
“We had things to focus which we did a really good job of and we are happy to take that one away, but we are under no illusions.
“They played a double-overtime game a couple of days before and they will improve when they are a bit fresher.”
Regardless, nothing could be taken away from the Pioneers’ efforts around the floor, with some solid defence reducing the Blues’ chances with the ball in hand.
“We made some adjustments at half time and refocused in some areas,” Sutton said.
“I thought the girls responded well, kept the energy high and I thought we played with a high level of focus for loose balls and rebounding.”
The double-doubles from Reinoehl and Aokuso certainly played a major part in keeping the possessions down and not allowing Frankston second-chance opportunities..
“If you rebound well it usually means you keep the other team to one opportunity down the court,” Sutton said.
“Rebounding is always a focus for us and those two really took on the challenge.”
Add to that the effort of Brancatisano on Reid and it made for an impressive result.
“Steph Reid had a 46-point game two nights before, keeping her to 13 was outstanding,” Sutton said.
Sutton said the game plan came together well, with a big spread of scorers making it tough to the Blues to defend.
From there the win over Ballarat was indeed something special.
This time there were onlythree double-figure scorers, with Aokuso topping thelist with 30, Calleia with 14 and Fatkin with a timely 12-point, 14-rebound double-double.
Sutton said he felt theycould have put the game away earlier, but that was not to be.
“We felt like we had a few moments in the game where we could have put them away, where we had four or five point leads and a bit of momentum, but we couldn’t sustain the momentum,” he said.
“That was partly through their play and partly due to lapses in focus from us.
“In contrast to the Frankston game where we had a lot of people scoring, Zitina was our focal point we needed to use and use a lot, because she was having a good game.
“We felt we had an advantage with her inside so we were glad she stepped up and carried us on the offensive end.
“We were focused on getting her the ball and she returned the favour.”
Sutton said Fatkin was certainly a major part of the victory.
“She is a really good athlete, but she was a bit frustrated with her shooting performance across the game,” he said.
“But had an impact on the rebounding end, so we were really pleased she could give us that.”
As for the final minute, Sutton said it was exciting for the team and the supporters present.
“Close finishes are always enjoyed by the crowd,” he said.
“We were glad to have a tight game where we could battle through some things that weren’t perfect from our end and hold our focus.
“Getting a stop right on the buzzer was part of the reason we won, but it was nice the girls could come through.”
