By JARROD POTTER
THE top of the mountain Dandenong Rangers claimed back-to-back exuberant round-four wins to make its first summit of the WNBL ladder this season.
Following its 15-point win over Melbourne on Friday night, in a battle for top spot, Dandenong hosted West Coast on Saturday night – with the Waves off the back of a tough trip to Bendigo the previous night.
The end result for West Coast will hopefully be forgotten quickly as the Waves were outclassed in all facets by Dandenong in a 90-36 whitewash.
Wright’s mercy towards the Waves was to give his bench the majority of the match, and give his starters extended breaks, but to West Coast’s continued woe, the Rangers roster proved its power from one-to-12.
Following a resolute start by his starters – especially Alice Kunek (19pts) and Kayla Pedersen (17pts) – Wright let his bench get extended play and the roster cashed in – with 38 points off the pine highlighting the huge depth the Rangers have at its disposal in 2013/14.
Brigitte Ardossi (12pts, seven rebounds) had her best outing for the Rangers this season, with Rebecca Mercer (10pts) shooting well from beyond the three-point arc.
Also hitting the scoreboard was Lauren Scherf (6pts) – with the 17-year-old posting her first points in what will surely be a long and illustrious WNBL career.
“It’s a really good result – sometimes it’s hard to come out against a team that’s undermanned, like Perth (West Coast) were, and dedicate yourself to the task, which is us trying to play better defence and guarding the boards and doing all the things we need to get better, and I thought we did that.” Wright said.
“I thought we stuck to the task and tried to get better at all the things we’re trying to get better at, so I’m really happy.”
While the job was tougher on Friday night, the result remained the same as Dandenong ran over the top of Melbourne 72-57, in the Rangers’ first outing to Melbourne’s new home at the State Basketball Centre.
Kunek (20pts, six rebounds), Jenna O’Hea (17pts, seven rebounds) and Pedersen (15pts, five rebounds) all posting impressive totals.
Former Ranger and WNBA premiership player Rachel Jarry (15pts, 14 rebounds) starred for the Boomers.
The only concern for Dandenong heading into Thursday night’s Halloween showdown against Bendigo Spirit will be a back/knee niggle that kept O’Hea out of the Saturday night match as a precaution.
“We’re hoping – obviously she just couldn’t play today so we’re definitely hoping that she will (be able to play against Bendigo),” Wright said.
“She’s got a little bit of a knee and she’s got a little, tiny back issue that wasn’t worth risking her today, but we’re hopeful that she’ll come good as obviously we need her against Bendigo.
“But that being said and done, you wouldn’t have known she wasn’t out there today, so that’s a great thing for our team, that we’re able to cover for someone like Jenna.”
Dandenong then heads to Canberra for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Capitals in the ABC televised game. Wright’s focus however is firstly on the Bendigo clash, with the Spirit still ranking as his team to beat in the WNBL this season.
“No matter what anyone says, Bendigo still sets the mark when it comes to the league in the way they play and physicality they put across the league,” Wright said.
“They’re dominating the physical side of the game and rebounding – so it will be a massive test for us and we’ll be able to then walk away from that knowing where we sit.
“Bendigo is definitely the benchmark.”
Tip-off at Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Thursday night is 7.30pm.
