By Nick Creely
SEABL
REVIEW – SEMI-FINALS
In a stunning result at Dandenong Stadium on Saturday night, the Rangers’ Men’s team is through to the preliminary final after a pulsating 92-91 victory over the North-West Thunder.
It was an electric game, with a capacity crowd being treated to some high quality basketball, and until the last moments no one knew who would walk away victorious.
With only moments to go in the match, Jorden Pege’s stepback fadeaway sealed the deal and saw the home side move one step further to the championship.
But in a tightly-fought contest, not much ever separated the two rivals.
At quarter time, the scores were level at 26-apiece, at half time the Thunder surged a point clear, and at three quarter time the Thunder were two points ahead.
But the home crowd helped lift the Rangers in the final quarter, and in the end a 24-21 final term was just enough.
Next week will see the Rangers in a preliminary final against Hobart at Derwent Entertainment Centre on Friday night, tip-off at 7.30pm.
Earlier on in the evening, the Dandenong Rangers’ Women couldn’t quite get into the contest against the Bendigo Braves, falling 59-74.
In a game where the Rangers were quite undermanned, the Braves always had the edge and always maintained distance on the scoreboard.
In a closely fought opening quarter, the Braves broke away late to take a six-point advantage into quarter time.
That advantage was slightly increased to seven-points at half time, with the Rangers unable to capitalize on its opportunities in attack.
Midway through the third quarter the Braves pushed the lead all the way out to 20-points, before the Rangers rallied for the home crowd to bring the margin back to 12 at three quarter time.
It proved to be a hurdle too far, with the Braves not allowing the Rangers to chip away at the lead any further, professionally sealing the deal by restricting the Rangers to just 17-points in the final term.
The home-and-away minor premiers still have the chance to bounce back next week when they play a preliminary final against Launceston on Sunday afternoon at Dandenong Stadium, tip-off at 2pm.
