By JARROD POTTER
WHILE the results didn’t fall Dandenong’s way this weekend, lessons learnt will put them in good stead for their last week of WNBL home and away matches.
Facing a dogged Melbourne Boomers on Friday night, the Rangers left their run too late, falling a point short in the 84-85 loss.
A back-and-forth three-point bonanza took place on court as Jenna O’Hea (32 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds) found sublime touch from beyond the three-point arc for the Rangers and the Boomers’ Nicole Romeo (12 points) similarly shot cleanly at the other end.
Romeo’s three-threes in three minutes pushed the Boomers out to an 11-point lead before Dandenong stormed back from 72-83 down.
The hard yards almost paid off as Dandenong claimed a one-point lead, 84-83, with six seconds remaining on the clock, following a monster three-pointer from WNBA star Leilani Mitchell.
Showing why she has the captaincy, Melbourne’s Tess Madgen (27 points) took the ball into the key and slotted the match winning field goal and the Boomers stormed the court to celebrate their underdog victory.
Kayla Pedersen (23 points, 10 rebounds) had one of her best outings in the green and gold while Leilani Mitchel (19 points, 10 assists) also posted a double-double in the one-point loss.
“Last night’s (Friday) game was a bit of a bummer but Melbourne really deserved it as they played really well,” Dandenong coach Mark Wright said.
“But when it’s all said and done we were a point up with six seconds to go – so it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
“When you shoot the ball as well as they did and so many of them contributed, they didn’t have any flat spots… that doesn’t happen too often.”
Saturday night’s highly touted first-versus-second clash with Bendigo didn’t pan out as predicted with the Spirit claiming a comfortable 85-67 win over the Rangers. Both sides giving their benches a long run before the finals series starts in a fortnight.Alice Kunek (13 points) led the scorers for Dandenong while Lauren Scherf (6 points, 6 rebounds) stood out from limited match time.
“This was always going to be a tough game, we would’ve liked to have won last night and not for it to mean so much,” Wright said.
“But I always had at the back of my head to play the kids and get them some court time in front of the home court as they don’t get it much.
“We tried, but when the win was out of reach we quickly went to the bench and they did well and I’m glad the supporters saw them play.”
Injury concerns kept O’Hea (knee tendonitis) out of the Saturday night match and may rule her out of this Saturday’s interstate clash with Adelaide on Saturday.
“It’s a knee issue and we’re not sure if she’ll be back for next week and we’re trying to be smart about finals,” Wright said.
“She pulled up really lame after last night’s game and that was a massive game she had.
“It’s something that should be right, if it’s not right this week it will be right the week after, but this is something she’s been dealing with all year.”
A cruel blow also befell former Dandenong Rangers SEABL player Elyse Penaluna in the Saturday night clash, with the star Bendigo centre injuring her knee for the second time at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.
