Leonard In To Help Pioneers

The Castec Rural Pioneers are pleased to announce that Leonard Harper-Baker has signed with the club as an injury replacement for Jacob Lampkin who went down at training with a very nasty ankle injury. Jacob's return date is uncertain.

Leonard has been playing as an import with Keysborough in the Big V, where he has been averaging 14 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

Leonard joined the team for training on Tuesday night and, subject to formalising his registration, will suit up on Friday in our home clash with Waverley.

Head coach Richard Hill is relieved to have Leonard join the team. "Being able to find an injury replacement for Jacob at short notice is great for us, Leonard's agent, Chris Warren and Keysborough have been very helpful in facilitating this signing and I look forward to helping Leonard quickly acclimatise to our team as we prepare for a vital clash with Waverley on Friday night."

The Castec Rural Pioneers have also this week released US import Chris Seeley from their playing roster.

At this time, the club’s board are uncertain whether they will find a replacement for Chris.

Both the Castec Rural and OneFortyOne Pioneers started the season strongly, and after five rounds of competition, The Castec Rural Pioneers and OneFortyOne Pioneers sit 4th and 5th, respectively, on the men's and women's NBL1 South ladder.

Our OneFortyOne Pioneers have also suffered injuries to other key players, including Canadian star Cassandra Brown and young gun Imogen Rock.

Over the weekend, we also saw Melbourne Boomers star Miela Goodchild absent but will return to Mount Gambier this week after representing Australia in 3x3 world cup qualifiers in Israel last weekend. As we welcome back Miela, OneFortyOne Pioneers Head Coach, Matt Sutton is also ecstatic to officially welcome Zitina Aokuso to Mount Gambier this week.

While 'Z' is still a little way off hitting the court for the Mount Gambier Pioneers, this is an exciting and highly anticipated addition to the women's team.

The Pioneers teams return to Wulanda Recreation & Convention Centre this Friday, May 12 and will be looking to bounce back strongly in front of their home fans while also supporting the Australian Breast Cancer Network in the NBL1 Pink Round.