By JARROD POTTER
NO-ONE thought they could do it.
Dandenong had spluttered through the regular season, dropping to a 14-14 record and faced with a nightmare run back to the SEABL grand final.
Their run to back to the SEABL championship match would be monumental to overcome.
First up, the Rangers had to face Sandringham – Dandenong held strong to claim the 105-87 win.
Then Geelong at the Supercats fortress – yet again Dandenong prevailed with a 92-74 win – and backed it up in the SEABL East Conference championship match, besting Bendigo on the road in a 85-79 thriller.
Finally the last challenge of the year was against the SEABL South Conference champions – the high-flying Mt Gambier Pioneers – although it was mercifully at Dandenong and not on the road again.
Dandenong was up for that challenge – pulling ahead through the first two terms, with the offensive heavy lifting going to Daequon Montreal.
Montreal was dominant all match and left Pioneers’ coach Richard Hill with a nightmare match-up problem as the guard-forward created havoc at the three-point line as much as he did in close to the basket.
Dandenong burst out to a 28-17 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Mt Gambier toiled away to reduce the deficit to 49-42 at the half.
The second half lived up to its billing as the most important 20 minutes of the season as both teams traded shots – with the Pioneers getting hot in the third term to pull back a small Rangers’ margin.
Montreal continued his firestorm shooting – working his way to 37 points at three-quarter-time.
From there the last quarter.
The stadium roared at any opportunity – Pioneers and Rangers fans alike erupted at the slightest decision or indecision, made or missed shot and generally tried to blow the roof off the stadium withThe Pioneers had to roll the dice – with a number of their players, including star centre Titus Robinson, on four fouls late in the game.
Robinson returned at 3.31 remaining in the match, but Dandenong managed to negate his impact, especially the man-of-the-moment Montreal – who reached over the top of Robinson to lay the most important block of the season.
The noise was deafening as Montreal flew over the top of Robinson to knock the ball out and keep the Pioneers from bringing the margin back to three.
From there the Pioneers were forced to foul to get the ball back and Dandenong blew out the margin – ending the match 97-85 ahead and earning its place among SEABL history.
Awarded the Hugh McMeniman Medal for what can only be described as a monster match – Montreal reeled off 46 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and the block that will be talked about for years to come.
Also firing for the Rangers were Tony Lewis (13 points, 12 rebounds), Andrew Harms (14 points, seven assists) and Brent Hobba (11 points).
“What can you say,” Rangers coach Darren Perry said. “We lose Owen, he was playing for us in the last three games and lose him to a toe injury and sometimes you think ’what else could happen’.
“The guys had a focus on what we needed to do, we wavered a few times, but that’s going to happen in big games when the other team wants to go on a run.
“We defended well enough, we scored enough and we’re the champs.”
Last year’s loss remained a point of the past for Perry, but he admitted it had been part of the team’s overall motivation for this season.
“We didn’t talk about last year – it’s in the past. But I think what ends up happening is it becomes part of you,” Perry said.
“Anytime you get close to something it becomes part of you that you didn’t get it – you don’t have to talk about it with these guys.
“The effort levels they had over the last month were phenomenal.”
