Jenna O’Hea has starred in both matches against Bulleen this season and will need to do so again on Friday night to help the Rangers win. 72880
By Jarrod Potter
DANDENONG Rangers’ 73-64 away victory over the Townsville Fire will set them up for a big double-header this weekend, facing cross-town rivals Bulleen on Friday before heading up to face Bendigo on Saturday night.
The Rangers have lost two hard-fought contests against the Boomers this season, round four’s loss at home 81-76 and away at the Venuto Club in round six, 93-87.
Former Dandenong junior Liz Cambage starred in both matches for Bulleen, getting 24 points and 10 rebounds at Dandenong and 22 points and 15 rebounds on the Boomers’ home court.
Jenna O’Hea stepped up against Bulleen on both occasions as well, pushing her old team with 24 points and eight rebounds at home and 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists away.
The last month has been productive for Dandenong, extending their winning streak to 4-0 with the win over Townsville on Saturday.
The Rangers led at every change against Townsville, leading the assist count 20-13 and generally controlling the ball best.
Steph Cumming top scored for the Rangers with 20 points, Jenna O’Hea had 17 and eight rebounds and Kath Macleod scored 14 with seven assists.
Mark Wright said the victory continued the great form Dandenong has generated over the last four rounds.
“It was very good to win in Townsville, which we thought would be the case,” Wright said. “It’s an extremely tough place to play – they’ve got a great home court there.”
“I think we’ve been consistent in the last four games – we’ve played consistently well. We get a lot from everybody and that’s what making us win at the moment.”
Krista Phillips returned from her quad injury to play out 22 minutes and Wright was pleased with her comeback.
“That was about all we thought we’d get out of her,” Wright said. “She pulled up fine. She did the 70 per cent and against Bulleen we think she’ll be able to do 100 per cent.”
Focused solely on the Bulleen match on Friday, Wright said the Rangers will concern themselves with the Bendigo Spirit once their job was complete against the Boomers.
“We’ve had two monumental losses against Bulleen and we’ll be very keen to reverse that trend. We’ll worry about Bendigo after that game. We’re very concentrated on beating Bulleen first and then concentrate on Bendigo after.”
Dandenong tip-off at home on Friday at 7.30.
