THE trip to Albury proved productive for Dandenong Rangers, with the SEABL men and women both taking emphatic wins over the Bandits.
Dandenong fell to a six-point quarter-time deficit in the men’s 2012 grand final rematch before dragging themselves back to the lead at the half, before pushing away in the second half to record a 96-87 win.
Import pair Daequon Montreal (22 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Tony Lewis (19 points, 10 rebounds) pushed the Rangers to the front with great help from Brent Hobba – hitting the long-range three-pointers needed.
Andrew Harms (eight points, six rebounds, nine assists) continued his domination of the SEABL competition with an almost triple-double performance running the ball.
The Rangers women proved the perfect curtain-raiser with a 64-47 first up win under new coach Paul Flynn.
Sporting a new look team, without SEABL three-peat champions Steph Cumming, Alison Downie returning this season, the onus fell on Dandenong’s experienced pair Amelia Todhunter (14 points, nine rebounds) and Clare Papavs (10 points, 14 rebounds, six assists) to push the score along, breaking the match open with a 37-23 lead at half time and keeping the foot on the pedal to record their first win of their championship defence.
Aimie Clydesdale (seven points, five rebounds) continued where she left off in the WNBL preliminary final with a standout performance from 28 miuntes andFlynn’s D-League/BVDL mainstays from their back-to-back reign in 2011-2012 – Bridget Deery, Karina Martin and Georgie Lovelace – all impressed in the top-league off low court-time.
Dandenong men host Mt Gambier on Saturday night in their first match at Dandenong Basketball Stadium this season while the women have a bye.
