A composed Ballarat Rush take the win over Dandenong

A composed Ballarat Rush take the win over Dandenong.

By Kasey Cornwell

The Ballarat Rush were too strong for Dandenong, beating them at the Minerdome, 72 – 64. Abby Wehrung was phenomenal with 20 points, 5 assists and Joy Burke was hard working on 20 rebounds, 11 points. Ashleigh Spencer was great at the offensive end with 19 points.

Dandeong’s Lauren Scherf contributed 20 points along with 13 rebounds and Clare Papavs notched up 13 points for her side.

The Rush started the game strongly, and were relentless on defence. Dandenong were regularly forced to use the majority of their shot clock due to the intense pressure on the defensive end. A solid first term, saw the Rush lead by 2, 16 – 14.

In the second term, both sides were tough on defence and made it hard for each other to score. Ashleigh Spencer and Kerryn Harrington however were able to hit those tough shots, and Ballarat entered the main break leading 32 – 24.

The third quarter saw the likes of Harrington, Spencer and Wehrung continue to take good shots and extend Ballarat’s lead. With 4 minutes to go Dandenong was able to cut the lead to only 5 points, however Harrington was quick to respond hitting 2 vital shots and returning the lead to 9 points. The Rush finished the third period with a 7 point lead over Dandenong, 57 – 45.

Ballarat were able to maintain composure to secure the win in the fourth, adding an 8 point win over Dandenong to their list of home wins.

Head Coach Dave Flint was impressed with the wonderful poise the Rush played with in the dying stages of the game. After playing so many close games this year, Flint expects his side to be able to stay composed and he was rapt with how hard his side played whilst maintaining composure.

Flint thought that it was the stops the Rush managed to implement early on, that made their offences work so well. He noted that this allowed the Rush to create the scoring opportunities. The spacing on the court was also a highlight for Flint and this helped 4 players to all make 10 points or more.

Dave Flint also noted that this is the first time his team has scored 70 plus points for about 5 games, and he had expressed to the side that to win today, they really needed to put the effort into the scoreboard, so he was pleased with the effort on the offensive end.

Today’s game, Flint said was a must win game for the Rush, despite how consistently his side has played over the season. He was incredibly proud of how well his side played in such a pivotal game.

The Ballarat Rush meet the Geelong Supercats for their second last game of the regular season on Saturday August 13 at 5pm, at Geelong. The Rush return home on Sunday August 14 at 12pm for their last home game for the SEABL season against Canberra.