By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG Rangers claimed two national championships across the Queen’s Birthday weekend – snaring gold in the under-18 girls and under-14 boys at the National Junior Classic basketball tournament.
Dandenong’s under-18 girls defeated the North Sydney Bears 56-44, with star centre Amanda Meinking dominating the rebounds to claim the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
Going one better than last year’s second place finish, Rangers coach Paul Flynn said the girls were determined to win in their last go at the junior classic.
“Beats the hell out of coming second,” Flynn said.
“We had five girls from that team coming back this year so we set a goal pretty early on to make sure we didn’t watch another team take our medal this time.
“I think we were a little bit more focussed – had a bit more intensity – the hunger was there – this group has been successful throughout their junior career- we highlighted a couple of weeks ago this is their last year of juniors and they can create something very special if they lock in and execute as a team.
“The Rangers under-14 boys had a close-fought contest against Altona – claiming a 66-61 to knock off the Gators twice across the weekend while the under-14 girls and under-12 boys were edged out into second place by Sturt Sabres and Melbourne respectively.
The Rangers’ under-14 boys and girls have qualified for the Nationals later this year on the back of their successful tournament.
The Casey Cavaliers under-12 boys also participated in the tournament – finishing 15th with a 48-44 win over Hills Hornets in their final standing playoff on Sunday.
RANGERS U18 Girls – Jamie Cooper (Pakenham), Stephanie Pal (Endeavour Hills), Tess Young (Officer), Emily Rider (Lynbrook), Rachel Antoniadou (Ripplebrook), Kaitlyn Wakartschuk (Hampton Park), Askani Pirihi, Danni Pearce and Amanda Meinking.
RANGERS U14 Boys – Ryan Rapp (Lysterfield South), TJ Hepi (Hampton Park), James Spencer (Lynbrook), Ezekiel Foase (Narre Warren South), William Barron, Callan Blackley, Liam Hanafin, Jack Perry, Shadrach Tagaloa-Leniu and Lachlan Viney.
