South Spotlight | Blues beat Rangers to stay hot

Featured image: Rachel Louise - Rachel Louise Photography @rachellouisephotographyau

Not even Joe Palmer's best game for the Dandenong Rangers since getting married was enough to stop their slide with the Frankston Blues maintaining their hot form with Dibaji Walker and Jeremy Combs dominant in the 95-86 NBL1 South win.

It always shaped as a fascinating battle on Saturday night at Dandenong Basketball Stadium with Frankston arriving on a four-game winning streak but withing Lucas Barker and Daniel Trist while the Rangers had lost three of their past four matches.

Desperate to get their season back on track, Dandenong started on fire with an early 14-point lead but that advantage was back to two by half-time and the Blues ended up scoring the nine-point victory with their imposing front court pair of Walker and Combs combining for 53 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks.

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The result means that the Rangers have now lost four of their past five games to slip to a 9-8 record to be clinging to a spot in the to 10 while the Blues are in hot form with five wins in-a-row to improve to an 11-5 record.

By the end of the night, the Blues got the win on the back of shooting 42 per cent from the field to the 38 from the Blues while making 22/27 from the free-throw line to 16/21 while getting over the line while giving up 20 offensive rebounds but forcing Dandenong into 13 turnovers.

Dibaji Walker was spectacular in the win for Frankston with 32 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks on 12/21 shooting from the floor, 3/5 from downtown and 5/5 at the foul line.

Jeremy Combs is fitting in nicely too and produced another 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals with Jack Stanwix contributing 14 points, 10 boards, six assists and two blocks, and Austin Shelley 14 points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Joe Palmer produced his best performance since returning a married man a month ago and produced 28 points, 14 rebounds and three assists for Dandenong. He shot 8/15 from the floor, 5/11 from downtown and 7/7 at the foul line.

Harry Froling added 27 points, 10 rebounds and two assists, Josh Kunen 18 points and eight boards, and Sam Davidson eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

As finals approach, every game featuring teams inside the top 10 take on extra significance and it was the Rangers determined to get back to top form and started on fire opening up a 14-point lead in the first quarter.

But Frankston responded with a 7-0 run and by quarter-time Dandenong's lead was back to 27-23 with the home team shooting 55 per cent from the floor to 42 with Harry Froling and Josh Kunen combining for 19 of their points.

Frankston did manage 23 points in the second term on the back of 9/12 at the foul line with Dandenong adding 21 points on 7/20 shooting with the Rangers going into the half-time break leading 48-46.

Joe Palmer warmed up in that second quarter to have 14 points for the Rangers while Jeremy Combs was leading the way for Frankston with the 12 points.

The Blues then took over in the third term with an 8-0 run to open up an eight-point lead and still be on top 69-63 by three quarter-time thanks to shooting 9/18 in the quarter while not having a turnover while the Rangers managed just the 15 points on 5/18 shooting.

Dandenong hit back, though, and early in the final term when Froling landed a triple and Kunen got a dunk on the put back, they were in front with just under seven minutes to play.

Scores were then still level with 3:30 to go when Palmer landed another three ball before Jack Stanwix responded for the Blues before Dibaji Walker closed the door on the Rangers with a huge dunk with 1:30 on the clock.

Walker then had another slam too before the finish and Frankston went on to win by nine to make it five straight and keep their momentum rolling.

The Rangers will now attempt to arrest their slide next Saturday night against the Mount Gambier Pioneers with the Blues looking to maintain their form that same night at home to the Knox Raiders.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 11

DANDENONG RANGERS 86 (Palmer 28, Froling 27, Kunen 18)

FRANKSTON BLUES 95 (Walker 32, Combs 21, Shelley 14, Stanwix 14)