NBL1 Women vs Dandenong Rangers
The Rangers have blown out Frankston on the road 63-87 to remain undefeated on the season at 5-0.
Dandenong’s Rebecca Cole (27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, four rebounds, six assists, two steals), Colleen Planeta (22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, five rebounds, three blocks) and Rosie Fadljevic (14 points, eight rebounds) proved too much of a handful for the Blues. Frankston’s Stephanie Reid fought hard for all night with 28 points and seven assists.
The Rangers’ defence was a highlight in the first quarter, limiting the Blues to just six points towards the end of the period. But the home team ended the term on a 5-0 run to reduce their deficit to a respectful 11-15 at the first break.
Dandenong flexed their muscles in the second quarter behind the offensive drive of Cole and Planeta, as the duo helped push the visitors’ lead out to 22-41 lead nearing half time. However, Frankston pulled the margin back to just 13 at the main break thanks to a pair of threes from Reid.
The Blues came out with more intensity in the third quarter and JoAnna Smith’s triple got her side within five points with 6:16 on the clock. But Dandenong came right back with their own surge, ballooning the margin out to 15 at the end of three.
Dandenong continued to pile on the pain in the final term to cruise to their fifth win of the season.
NBL1 Men vs Dandenong Rangers
The Rangers have picked up a 74-85 win over the Blues at Frankston Basketball Stadium on Wednesday night to open the round.
Keli Leaupepe starred for Dandenong, tallying 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go with nine rebounds. Lucas Barker chipped in 17 points and Samson Froling added 14 points and eight boards.
Najeal Young worked tirelessly for Frankston with 22 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Frankston stayed a nose ahead throughout the opening term, eventually leading 20-17 at the first change after Dandenong’s Timothy Lang made the late turn around jumper. You couldn’t separate these teams in the second quarter, with the Blues taking a four-point advantage into half time.
Dandenong ran over the top of the Blues in a decisive 20-11 third term, led by Froling and Barker. Froling closed out the quarter with an impressive and-one conversion to give his side their then biggest lead of the game at 55-60.
An exciting fourth quarter saw the Rangers breakthrough after Barker nailed a pair of threes halfway through the period, extending his side’s lead to double digits. And Dandenong didn’t look back from that stage, running home with an important road victory.
NBL1 Women vs Nunawading Spectres
A tightly contested game from the tip-off, the first quarter went bucket for bucket the whole way. The biggest margin being three points which was how they entered the first break. The damage in this game came in the second quarter, and it was obvious from the body language of the Frankston Blues that they felt the game well and truly slipping away. The Blues have fallen victim to big quarters from their oppositions in every game so far this season. A 23-12 quarter with Rebecca Pizzey scoring 13 of them was just too much for them to handle.
The Blues had one win and four losses coming into the game and they hung their head early into the second half as they failed to best the Nunawading Spectres. They traded Buckets for the rest of the way, however the Blues poor second quarter became their undoing. Apart from the second quarter they were well and truly in this game, but their body language was just all wrong after they went down and the coaches will be all over that before there next game.
A great effort across the board from the Spectres as Pizzey and Chelseas D’Angelo had a big influence all game. They poured in 20 and 21 points respectively with most of those coming in that damaging second quarter.
In a good sign for the Blues they had five players score in double figures, showing that the signs are there.
The Spectres have now won two in a row and four for the season. The Blues on the other hand have slumped to five losses already after only six games.
NBL1 Men vs Nunawading Spectres
The only difference in this game came in the first quarter. The Nunawading Spectres just couldn’t get their shots to drop and scored 20 points compared to the Frankston Blues 27.
The Spectres brought the game to within four points. However, the Blues steadied, and extended the lead further as they finished the second quarter on a 17-11 run. Putting them up by 11 points at half time.
The margin sat at the double digit mark for most of the game until the 5th minute mark of the last quarter. A huge play by young gun Jack Gandolfo turned this game on its head. He finished a tough play as the Blues committed an unsportsmanlike foul on him and completed the 3 point play as well as getting possession back. He then followed it up the following possession with a huge bucket from behind the arc and brought the margin to only four points.
It was a nice comeback however the experienced head of the Frankston Blues won out in the end, Majok Majok had 18 points as all five starters of the Blues finished in double figures for points. A big issue that has become obvious for the Frankston is their bench. They only had seven points come off their bench and that makes it hard to keep leads.
Jack Gandolfo showed signs that he can be a superstar in this league and that’s a great take for Spectres fans out of this game. He finished with 11 points in 13 minutes but looks to be a livewire of the future for the Spectres.
It was a big surprise for the Spectres. They don’t often lose at home, and that puts them at four wins and two losses for the season, still up in the top four. This could be the catalyst for the Frankston season as they now have two wins and three losses in this new season.