Mehmed Bektas played his junior basketball at Dandenong, joined Knox in the South-East Australian Basketball League, but has returned to the Rangers this season and has impressed.By Glen Atwell
LESTER Strong playing in a Warrnambool Seahawks singlet was a bizarre sight for his former Dandenong Rangers team-mates on Saturday night.
But even Strong’s presence on the opposing team could not stop the Rangers from rolling the Seahawks 114-105 at the Warrnambool Basketball Stadium.
Ash Cannon was in devastating form for the second consecutive week, helping Dandenong to a 2-0 winning start to the Championship Division season.
The Rangers led from start to finish and stretched a 12-point half-time lead into a 23-point buffer at the end of the third period.
Warrnambool mounted a comeback of sorts, outscoring the Rangers 33-19 in the final stanza, but it only got the Seahawks within nine points when the final siren rang.
Dandenong assistant coach Mick Wheeler said Warrnambool was a very hard place from which to escape with a win.
“We probably went down to Warrnambool as the underdog,” he said.
“Not many teams will come back with a win from there.
“But we were quietly confident and our performance was great,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said it was bizarre to see Lester Strong, one of the Rangers’ most dominant players last season, warming up in a Warrnambool singlet.
“A lot of the our guys are still great friends with Lester, it was unusual, but that’s basketball,” she said.
Strong top scored for the Seahawks with 26 points and collected 17 rebounds.
But it was Dandenong’s Cannon who stole the show, netting a game-high 30 points, shooting at 63 per cent from the field and dragging down 19 rebounds.
“Ash was so dominant, he was awesome,” Wheeler said.
“Anyone who posts 30 points and 19 rebounds has obviously had a good game, but Ash has returned from the NBL (National Basketball League) as a much stronger, more confident player.”
Cannon was well supported by American import Vince Inglima, who has made an impressive start to the Big V season for Dandenong.
Inglima scored 28 points, including three triples.
Wheeler described Inglima as one of the most well-rounded basketballers he had ever seen take the court.
“Vince has gelled well with the team. He would fit into any side,” he said. “He understands how to win and how to adjust, that’s what makes him a winner.”
Another player showing plenty of promise for Dandenong is Mehmad Bektas, who scored 16 points on Saturday night, shooting at 61 per cent from the field.
Bektas is a former Dandenong Rangers junior and previously played with Knox in the South-East Australian Basketball League.
Now with two wins on the board and having beaten two classy teams, Dandenong has secured the early season ‘championship favourite’ tag, a title that has failed to faze Wheeler.
Wheeler said he expected Dandenong to be touted as the championship favourite early in the season.
“To be brutally honest, we’re the defending champion and should be confident of backing it up,” he said.
“We’re the team being targeted and that’s the way it is.”
Round three this weekend will be the Rangers’ first double-header of the season.
Dandenong clashes with Eltham at Eltham High School on Saturday night, before backing up on Sunday afternoon against Hume City at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.
Eltham player Adam Moore will be one to watch on Saturday night.
Moore has averaged 22 points in the first three games of the season and already taken down 30 rebounds.
On Sunday, Hume City point-scoring machines Greg Smith and Mike Spears will need to be accounted for.
“Hume City will be a tough game,” Wheeler said. “They’re a good side and we’ll be backing up.”
The Sunday afternoon game at Dandenong tips off at 2pm.
