By JARROD POTTER
EMPHATICALLY signing off their time in the junior ranks, Dandenong avenged an earlier tournament loss against their South Australian rivals to hold aloft the Medibank National Junior Classic pennant.
While the rest of us put our feet up and relax across the long-weekend, there was no downtime for Dandenong’s junior basketball stars as they took on the best from across the nation.
The Rangers senior boys hoisted the pennant with a thrilling 67-60 victory over South Australia’s Sturt Sabres.
After a gruelling schedule – taking on six games in three days – Dandenong’s Under-18 boys booked their place in the grand final after knocking over Basketball ACT, Central Districts, Diamond Valley, Melbourne and Eastern Mavericks in the preliminary rounds.
Against the power-packed Sturt attack – that at one stage levelled scores at 51-51 in the fourth – forward Mitchell Barry (20 points) and guard Jack Perry (10 points) knuckled down to wrestle the advantage back.
Bayley Lawrence made some massive defensive plays to help seal the deal and earn the lads another trophy on the national stage.
“Really good tournament, everyone contributed which was really pleasing,” Dandenong U18 coach Darren Perry said. “Also helps us get to that last game on Monday with a little bit of petrol in the tank ’cause we’ve managed to share the load the whole way through.
“It was a really good finals game – Sturt beat us at the Dandenong-Eltham tournament – so it was ‘here we are again’ but we managed to get over them this time.
“They tied it up with four to go and got some good offensive plays from those two guys (Barry and Perry) while Bayley Lawrence got some blocks and rebounds.
“It was hard-fought and we did what we needed to do to get a great team win.”
For Tyler Robertson, Barry and Perry, it was the second Australian title they’ve claimed this year after picking up a title with Vic Metro at the national championships.
Dandenong’s Under-14 boys – coached by Brad Crole – ended their campaign on home court with a 41-49 loss to Eltham.
The Under-14 girls were just pipped 41-44 against Eltham to finish sixth, Dandenong’s Under-16 girls finished up with a 32-39 loss to Basketball New Zealand.
DANDENONG 2016 NATIONAL JUNIOR CLASSIC CHAMPIONS: Darren Perry (coach), Mitchell Barry, Callan Blackley, Lawson Eales, Bayley Lawrence, Lachlan Old, Jack Perry, Benjamin Pike, Puoch Puoch, Ryan Rapp, Tyler Robertson.
