Jenna O’Hea finds a way through a couple of Bulleen Boomers in their match on Friday night. 72880 Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Jarrod Potter
DANDENONG went 1-1 from their round four matches against Bulleen and the West Coast and will have to rally when they face the Canberra Capitals at AIS Arena on Saturday night.
Dandenong broke the 44-44 deadlock at three-quarter time in the round one match, with Kath Macleod hitting the shot to go ahead 58-57 before shooting four free-throws to win 66-63.
Dandenong coach Mark Wright said the match this week would be vastly different from the round-one clash against the Capitals.
“In that first game we didn’t have Jenna O’Hea, and they’ve picked up Natalie Porter, so there will be a few different rosters,” Wright said.
“Canberra will be desperate to get that win and that will be the challenge – to meet their desperation and head it off with some of our own.”
The Rangers fell away in their Friday night blockbuster against the Bulleen Boomers at Dandenong Stadium, outscored 29-11 in the final quarter, with a Bulleen run of 11 consecutive points helping them to a 81-76 win.
O’Hea had 24 points and eight rebounds, Macleod had 21 points and Tegan Cunningham made a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Wright said the Boomers run-on in the last quarter was the damaging factor.
“That really hurt,” Wright said about the Rangers’ fourth quarter.
“When you’re holding a lead you need to stop the opposition scoring while getting your own, but we gave them 30 in the last quarter.
“That said, Bulleen are a super-talented team, so for three quarter we played really well, but shot ourselves in the foot in the last.
The trip to Perth proved more fruitful for the Rangers; smashing the cellar-dwelling West Coast Waves 90-65.
The Rangers lead at every change and set up the victory with a 23-11 opening quarter.
Macleod continued to rack up the points with 19, with Steph Cumming shooting 14 and O’Hea 12.
Wright used the bench to great effect in the win over the Waves, with all 10 players getting over 10 minutes on court.
“Most nearly got 20 minutes,” Wright said. “We used our bench and were very happy with how they went.”
Despite the scoreboard blow out at the end, Wright said the teams were more evenly matched than it appeared on the stats sheet.
“To be honest the game was closer than what it says on the scoreboard,” Wright said.
“There was only 12 to 14 points in it for most of the match and it was only in the last five minutes we put it away.
“They (the Waves) worked very hard – they aren’t the most talented team, but they work hard and are tough to beat in Perth.”
Wright said the progression the Rangers are showing was the highlight to take away from their opening five matches.
“We’re showing improvement every week and at this stage of the season, that’s the biggest positive,” he said.
“There’s room for a lot more improvement and hopefully that continues.”
