THE NUNAWADING Spectres stormed home in their VJBL U18 Boys VC Championship Clash to win against Dandenong Rangers in their Round 5 matchup at Dandenong Stadium on Friday night.

Throughout the first four weeks, the VC Championship has delivered some cracking contests as the best sides from the first half of 2025 go head-to-head on a weekly basis. Coming into the clash, both the Rangers and Spectres sat around the same mark after four weeks, inside the top four of the standings and both looking to make a splash in the postseason.

Although it was a neck-and-neck contest for most of the match, the fourth quarter proved to be defining, as the Spectres came home with a wet sail to snatch the contest and move into the top three on the ladder.

Dandenong Rangers (64) def. by Nunawading Spectres (76)

The opening minutes saw the Spectres take control of the match early in the piece, getting going with some nice makes inside the paint in the first quarter. Although the Rangers did steady as the frame rolled on, the visitors were able to keep their noses in front at all times, and led by five points at quarter time in a strong start to proceedings.

The second frame saw the Rangers tighten things up on the defensive end of the floor, holding the Spectres to just 10 points for the entire quarter. Nunawading was forced into some poor shots, while Dandenong kept its own offence rolling and flipped the script to take a one-point buffer into half-time.

Coming out of the main break, it was a much more even contest in the third period with the two teams trading baskets and neither team led by more than four points. A three-pointer to both sides in the final stages of the quarter saw the two teams separated by just a single point at the final change, with the Spectres holding the slimmest of leads.

Although it had been a tight affair until that point of the contest, it was all one way traffic in the last 10 minutes of the match, with Nunawading pulling away. Despite the fact that the game was tied with a few minutes to play, the Spectres finished the match on a 12-0 run to emphatically claim the road victory and maintain their standing as one of the contenders for 2025.

Nunawading star Ryda Devers was the prominent performer for the match, posting 21 points and doing a lot of the heavy lifting on the offensive end. Also catching the eye was Spencer O’Shea, who had 18 points of his own, while Xavier Wadeson (11 points), Jackson Cerovac (10 points) and Cooper Gill were all vital in the win.

Micah Livingston led the way for the Rangers with 17 points, while Austin Kirikiri was not far behind with 16 points of his own as the pair looked to ignite something for the home side on the scoring front throughout the first three quarters.

ACROSS THE COURTS

The Sunbury Jets defended Boardman Sports Stadium successfully in their clash against the Sandringham Sabres on Friday night, breaking away in the second and third quarters and holding off a spirited fightback from the visitors in the fourth.

The Eltham Wildcats were dominant in the fourth quarter of their match against the Kilsyth Cobras at Montmorency Secondary College, outscoring the opposition 29-19 in the final frame to run away with the victory.

The Knox Raiders maintained their standing as the sole undefeated team in the VC Championship so far when they bested the Casey Cavaliers by 15 points at Casey Stadium to further their claims as the championship favourite.