Rangers’ defence stifles Falcons

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG shrugged aside another title contender in the Big V Championship Men’s division on the weekend, overrunning th,e Waverley Falcons to win 95-75 at Stud Road.
The Rangers were prepared for an almighty stoush on Sunday, and the Falcons didn’t disappoint in the first half. Only two points separated the teams at half-time, but Dandenong’s trademark defence tightened up to strangle the visitors after the break.
Commendably, the Rangers restricted a potent Waverley line-up – albeit without star big-man Chris Cameron – to just 30 points in the second half, while Vince Inglima (31 points) and Brent Hobba (21) emerged to usher through their side home.
Inglima connected on 11 of 13 field goal attempts – including four of six three-pointers – for the game.
Without his offensive efficiency, the Rangers may have struggled on an afternoon when all-star forward Ash Cannan dropped just 14 points from five-of-18 shooting.
Typically, though, Cannan found a way to contribute, pulling down 17 rebounds to go with 11 boards from veteran point guard Mick Wheeler.
For the Falcons, who suffered a narrow defeat to Melbourne the previous night, it was Ivan Platenik (18), Simon Blennerhassett (15) and James Anderson (15) who posed the biggest threat throughout the afternoon.
Rangers coach Warren Dawson was buoyed by the second-half lockdown, hailing it as the team’s best defensive effort for six weeks.
While Dawson acknowledged the Falcons may have been below their best without Cameron, he downplayed any suggestion that the fade-out may have been caused by fatigue.
“I don’t think Waverley would be using the excuse that they had a game the night before,” he said. “If you want to win the title, it doesn’t matter when you play teams, you just have to be able to deal with that.”
For their part, the Rangers will now be looking to consolidate top spot against the dangerous Melbourne Tigers after the Queen’s Birthday weekend break.
“We’ve been a bit complacent over the last four weeks, but I think we’ve snapped out of that now,” Dawson said.
Meanwhile, Dandenong’s Championship Women’s team completed a regular season series sweep of Waverley in the curtain-raiser at Stud Road on Sunday.
No other side has beaten the Falcons this year, but the Rangers once again proved to be their nemesis, overcoming a two-point three-quarter time deficit to scrape home 90-87.
It was a contest of the highest quality, with 22 lead changes and 11 tied scorelines during the match.
Waverley star, and former Rangers Women’s National Basketball League player, Kathleen MacLeod (27) did her best to keep the visitors within striking distance, but Dandenong’s depth proved to be the deciding factor.
Faith Probst (14), Amelia Todhunter (10) and Fazlyn Hartley (10) led a long list of contributors for the home side, as the Rangers claimed their third victory over Waverley this season.
Dandenong now enters the break in third place on the ladder, having won its last four games.