By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG coach Mark Wright remains confident his Rangers can compete with WNBL championship favourite Bulleen, despite Friday night’s comprehensive defeat at the hands of their cross-town rival.
Dandenong’s 88-71 loss at the Veneto Club was its ninth-straight against the Boomers, who have now won 14 consecutive games in an incredible three-month streak.
The Rangers controlled the first quarter and led 23-22 at the break, only to be blown away by the Liz Cambage-led Boomers in the second term.
Cambage, a former Dandenong junior who snubbed her old club to join Bulleen last season, had 21 points and six rebounds in the first half on her way to match tallies of 33 and nine.
The Rangers managed just seven points in a diabolical second term, shooting two-of-19 from the field as Cambage and Co. surged to a 41-30 halftime lead.
After trailing by 18 shortly after the interval, they rallied to within 11 points early in the last on the back of purple patch from star forward Abby Bishop (23 points on nine-of-27 shooting).
Bulleen, though, never looked like taking its foot of the accelerator, cruising to a convincing victory.
Wright was quick to praise Cambage – whom he described as “unstoppable” – and her Boomers, but also used the shooting stats to suggest that his team had faltered under pressure.
“We missed 30 shots in the paint,” he lamented.
“Quite a few of those were challenged and changed by the size of Bulleen, but there was a large percentage that were good looks and we didn’t knock them down.
“We have to put our hands up and say we didn’t make the most of our opportunities, and that’s all about the pressure of the game.”
The Rangers got decent numbers from Bishop, Kath MacLeod (15), Jess Foley (13) and Tracy Gahan (12, 10 rebounds), while Chantella Perera (seven rebounds) provided some hustle on the offensive glass. Cambage and Rachel Jarry (15) led the way for Bulleen.
The result left Dandenong in fifth place on the ladder at 9-8 for the season. Bulleen (14-2) and Canberra (15-3) are locked into the top two, so the Rangers will now fight it out with Logan (10-7), Bendigo (10-7), Sydney(9-9) and Townsville (8-9) for the remaining three play-off berths.
That means a huge month of basketball ahead, with games against the Spirit, Adelaide, West Coast and Townsville, before a final-round rematch with Bulleen on 19 February.
Wright, who “seriously” believes his Rangers can beat Bulleen, says securing third spot is still the goal. And, if Townsville can upset Logan this weekend, a win over Bendigo on Sunday would catapult Dandenong into the top three.
Despite the many permutations, Wright knows exactly what his side must do.
“A lot of things can happen, but all we can do is take care of our own business,” he said.
The Rangers and Spirit will meet from 12.30pm at Stud Road on Sunday.
