By JARROD POTTER
SEABL – round 12
TURNING the tables, Dandenong raided Knox to claim two SEABL wins on Saturday night.
The State Basketball Centre turned green-and-gold as the Rangers stormed the basketball court to push their teams further up the SEABL East Conference ladders.
Dandenong’s men scored an emphatic 94-74 win over the Raiders as a 30-point opening term highlighted the Rangers’ intent.
Daequon Montreal’s (31 points, 7 rebounds) only enemy was the clock as he shot the lights out – hitting four-of-six three-pointers as he blazed away to 23 points at half time.
Knox’s Delwan Graham (14 points, 11 rebounds) went to Montreal to try and stop the Boise State star, but Montreal was able to fly past him to shoot his 11th straight match scoring 20 or more points.
Dandenong coach Darren Perry was able to rotate Montreal, giving his star only 30.55 minutes, and left the next wave of the attack to his other star import – Tony Lewis (21 points, 15 rebounds) – who shredded Knox’s defence.
Getting his starters off the court was an added bonus in the 20-point win for Perry and said it’s always in the back of his mind on double-header weekends.
“Any two game weekend if you’re able to give them a little bit of a rest towards the end of the first game it always helps the next day,” Perry said.
“You don’t see it much, but maybe if tomorrow (Sunday) goes into that third or fourth quarter and its tight, it always helps.”
While his imports starred as usual, Perry was impressed with the outside shooting of the group as six Rangers knocked in a three-pointer or more.
“Having Lucas (Barker) come back from the US, when Owen (Odigie) gets going, DC (Montreal) – we’ve got guys who can stretch the defence and shoot the three,” Perry said.
“We do it at training so I kind of expect them to make some, but it definitely helps and stretches the defence.”
In the earlier clash, Dandenong’s women easily bested the Raiders 73-49 on the back of an exceptional shooting effort.
The Rangers shot at 41 per cent from the floor as Clare Papavs (21 points) and Amelia Todhunter (15 points, 9 rebounds) led the charge in their usual manner.
The work under the ring from Lauren Scherf (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Faith Probst (10 points, 7 rebounds) continued unabated by the Raiders’ talls.
The win keeps Dandenong first in SEABL’s East Conference with an 11-2 record and a game in hand over Nunawading.
Dandenong’s sides clashed with Albury-Wodonga on Sunday – the second day of the double header – as the Journal goes to print.
