Captain saves the day

COMETH the hour, cometh the skipper and that is what happened at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre on Friday night when Alex Mudronja hit the go-ahead three pointer as the Mount Gambier Pioneers came back from 10 points down and withstood 68 points from Jacob Richards and Luke Rosendale to beat the Hobart Chargers 101-100.

The Chargers led the Pioneers all evening as the home team trying to build some momentum into their season and while Hobart’s lead continued to dwindle in the frenetic final term, they were still six points clear with three minutes to play and still two points up with just over 30 seconds left in regular time.

Enter Mudronja, who stepped up with the game winning three point shot, improving his team’s season record to 4-5.

It was a high-quality affair that got the finish it deserved with Mount Gambier shooting 55 per cent from the field while Hobart went at 49 per cent with both teams shooting an identical 8/20 from beyond the arc.

Mudronja had a huge night with 29 points, five rebounds and three assists on 12/19 shooting for the Pioneers including going 3/4 from beyond the arc.

Collin Moore added 15 points, five rebounds and two assists, Scott Telfer 14 points, four boards and four assists, Titus Robinson 13 points and two rebounds, Lucas Gordon 10 points, 11 boards, three assists and two blocks, and Elijah Saifaleupolu nine points.

The Mount Gambier Pioneers Women also played out a nailbiter but after building an early lead, the girls went down by four points to the fast finishing Chargers.

The Pioneers were looking to snap a three-game losing slide after winning the first five matches of the season and during the second quarter, the home side was well on track, leading by as many as 15 points.

The margin was only four, still in favour of the home team, at the final change but it was the Chargers who came out firing, scoring the first five points of the tense final quarter.

At the end of the day, Hobart’s shooting from beyond the arc proved the difference, nailing 12/30 compared to the Pioneers’ 6/29.

The Pioneers looked on track to avoid the fourth straight loss for a lot of the night but it wasn’t to be despite 29 points, 11 rebounds and three steals on 13/20 shooting from the field from Lara Edmanson.

Tilly Boler also finished with 17 points and five rebounds for the Pioneers despite 3/12 three-point shooting with Eva Langton adding 14 points and two boards, and Abby Prohaska eight points, nine rebounds and three assists.

IMAGE OF COURTESY OF ANDREW SCHERER (DLNQNT PHOTOGRAPHY)