Pioneers victory just out of range

AFTER the joy of the double road success for the Pioneers men and women the previous weekend, it was a case of so near, yet so far for both sides on their Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre home court matches last Friday night.

The Castec Rural Supplies Mount Gambier Pioneers Men were sunk by a death knock three pointer and the OneFortyOne Mount Gambier Pioneers Women ran out of time in their tenacious comeback to see the home sides left empty-handed and the Dandenong Rangers heading home with both sets of premiership points.

The Pioneers Men were looking to extend their winning streak to five when they hosted the lowly ranked Rangers but in the end a three pointer from Bryton Hobbs, with 30 seconds left on the clock, sunk the home side, going down 96-98.

As they have done in recent outings, the Pioneers got off to a flyer putting up 35 points in the opening quarter and taking an 11 point lead into the first break.

The Rangers had other ideas, though, and after the home side established what was to be a game high 14 point lead, they fought back late in the second quarter to see scores tied at 51 apiece at the main break, before the Pioneers took a seven point advantage into the final frenetic stanza.

Perennial top scorer Akech Aliir finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals, while Joe Palmer added 18 points and eight rebounds, Austin Shelley 14 points, two assists and two steals, Alex Mudronja 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Kaden Archie 11 points, two assists and two steals, and Amarco Doyle 10 points and seven rebounds.

The women’s script was a different tale with the Pioneers trailing by as many as 19 points in the second half before reducing the deficit to five before the Rangers settled and secured the 79-70 victory.

It was the start that cost the home side as the Rangers powered to a 14 point lead on the back of some stunning shooting – 11 from 17 from the field and four from six from three point territory and by half time the Rangers were 17 points clear.

Early in the third, that became a game high 19 point lead but the home side wasn’t done with yet and in the last, they were on an 11-0 run to be right back in contention.

Accurate finishing from the charity stripe saw the Rangers regain their composure and go on to record the nine point victory,The women now sit just outside the top eight.

Jayda Jansen top scored with 21 points on 6/8 shooting from behind the three-point line, while Haliegh Reinoehl added 16 points, 11 rebounds and two assists, Chloe Hildebrand eight points on 3/5 shooting, and Isa Brancatisano eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

RESULTS

Dandenong Rangers 98 (Hobbs 27, Monyyong 17, Roberts 16) d Mount Gambier Pioneers 96 (Aliir 20, Palmer 18, Shelley 14)

Dandenong Rangers 79 (Loughridge 26, Rock 13, N Puoch 11) d Mount Gambier Pioneers 70 (Jansen 21, Reinoehl 16, Brancatisano 8, Hildebrand 8)