Featured image: Michael Farnell / Sports Imagery
The Cockburn Cougars put the clamps on the gun Warwick Senators back court with Daniel Raber firing them to a home NBL1 West preliminary final while Caitie Jones lit it up for Lakeside Lightning and the Willetton Tigers knocked out the Joondalup Wolves.
REATH EXCITED TO BE PART OF EAST PERTH FINALS RETURN
AMY FEELING COMPLETE AGAIN AS JACOBS TWINS REUNITE AT TIGERS
PREVIEW NBL1 WEST | MEN'S FINALS WEEK 1
PREVIEW NBL1 WEST | WOMEN'S FINALS WEEK 1
WOMEN
Elimination Final – Perth Redbacks (56) lost to Lakeside Lightning (99)
Caitie Jones caught fire and the Lakeside Lightning proved too strong for the wounded and decimated Perth Redbacks with the 99-56 road elimination final victory.
While the Redbacks had done a terrific job to finish the regular season in sixth place at 11-9 to get to host the elimination final at Belmont Oasis, it was always going to be a tall order.
Not only were they without Perth Lynx captain Anneli Maley who is with the Australian Olympic Games team in Paris, but key pair Raya Thompson and Shenae Hartree are out injured, and All First Team member Natalie Chou played but was clearly well short of 100 per cent with her ankle.
They came up against a Lakeside team who might have been struggling entering the playoffs having lost five of the last six including the last two by a combined 66 points to Joondalup and Warwick, but who were more talented than that suggests.
The Lightning did still have their big three of MVP Teige Morrell along with Marnelle Garraud and Caitie Jones, and they just had too many weapons on the night for the Redbacks.
Lakeside were able to set the tone from the outset with the first seven points of the contest and never looked back.
The Lightning went on to lead 28-6 by the end of the first quarter and the lead did get out to as much as 29 points in the second quarter, but the Redbacks did dig deep to at least maintain their ground.
Lakeside's lead was just 28 points at half-time and then back to 24 by three quarter-time, but the Redbacks ran out of gas and the Lightning piled on another 23 points to just four in the final stanza for the eventual 43-point victory.
Lakeside now advances to a semi-final on Friday night up against the Warwick Senators where Caitie Jones will take on her original club with a preliminary final spot on the line on the back of 33 points on 12/17 shooting from the floor and 5/8 from downtown.
Marnelle Garraud added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, Tia Ucich 18 points, six boards and six assists, Jade Gowland 11 points and five rebounds, and MVP Teige Morrell 10 points, 13 boards, seven assists, four blocks and two steals.
It was a tough way for the season to finish for the Redbacks, but strong foundations were laid by first-year coach Tim Rendulic and it's a case what might have been if Anneli Maley was available, and if Raya Thompson, Shenae Hartree and Natalie Chou were healthy.
Brooke Malone completed the best season of her 74-game career with the Redbacks with another 19 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals while Kelsey Curtin had a season-best 10 points, three boards and two assists.
Mikayla Pirini added seven points and eight assists, and Georgia Denehey seven points and six rebounds.
PERTH REDBACKS 56 (Malone 19, Curtin 10, Denehey 7, Pirini 7)
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 99 (Jones 33, Garraud 20, Ucich 18)
Elimination Final – Willetton Tigers (92) defeated Joondalup Wolves (76)
The Willetton Tigers have kept their quest for a fourth straight Grand Final appearance alive by producing a dominant second half performance to overpower the wounded Joondalup Wolves 92-76.
Both teams had championship ambitions coming into the 2024 season but both have had rollercoaster rides to set up Friday night's cut-throat battle at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Tigers having finished fifth and the Wolves in eighth.
The Wolfpack had booked in their finals spot having won their last three regular season games, but they were once again without WNBL star Emma Clarke who had made it back for four matches late in the season, but missed the win over the Eastern Suns and was again out to take on Willetton.
Despite that and even being away from home, it was Joondalup who made the better of the start ending up scoring the last 13 points of the first quarter to be on top 21-6 by quarter-time.
The Wolves then knocked down three consecutive three-point bombs on the back of two Willetton turnovers early in the second quarter with two of them coming from Darien Huff while Sarah Toeaina hit the other.
That saw Joondalup's lead out to 19 points and things were getting desperate for Willetton, but Amy Jacobs did provide a steadying three and by half-time the Tigers had got the deficit back to just nine.
Another pair of three-pointers to Amy Jacobs in the third quarter suddenly saw the Tigers back within three points before front court pair Melisa Brcaninovic and Jillian Archer combined to give the home team their first lead of the evening.
It only lasted a matter of seconds, though, with Jorjah Smith banking in a buzzer-beating three to keep Joondalup leading 61-59 at three quarter-time.
The Wolves had little left in the tank, though, and with Huff battling a knock she copped earlier in the night, Sirena Tuitele appearing to injure a knee and Toeaina also sore on top of the absence of Emma Clarke, and the Tigers took control in the final quarter.
Willetton put up 33 points to 15 in the final stanza to turn a two-point deficit at three quarter-time into the 16-point victory to advance to a semi-final match up against the loser of Saturday's Rockingham-Perry Lakes match up.
After falling down 19 early in the second term, the Tigers outscored Joondalup 79 points to 44 with Jillian Archer producing 24 points and 17 rebounds on 10/15 shooting with front court partner Melisa Brcaninovic adding 22 points, nine boards and seven assists with 11/12 foul shooting.
The Jacobs sisters were massive too going 9/18 from three-point range between them with Claire finishing with 18 points and five rebounds on 6/8, and Amy knocking down three crucial triples for 13 points and six assists.
A frustrating season for Joondalup is now over where this game summed things up where they just could never get their full team on the court or have everyone healthy at any one time.
Sarah Toeaina was only able to play 24 minutes but had 16 points with Darien Huff finishing with 14 points, Geraldynn Leaupepe 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Julia Chandler 14 points and seven boards, and Jorjah Smith 12 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals.
WILLETTON TIGERS 92 (Archer 24, Brcaninovic 22, C Jacobs 18)
JOONDALUP WOLVES 76 (Toeaina 16, Chandler 14, Leaupepe 14, Huff 14)
Qualifying Final – Warwick Senators (72) lost to Cockburn Cougars (88)
The championship defence of the Cockburn Cougars continues to gather steam as they put on a brilliant defensive performance on the gun guards from the Warwick Senators while Daniel Raber dominated in an 88-72 road victory.
Both teams had standout regular seasons combining for a 33-7 record to finish in second and third place respectively while splitting one win apiece against each other, and also having split the last two championships in the NBL1 West.
That set the stage for a tantalising match up at Warwick Stadium with the reward for the winner to host a preliminary final next weekend and it was the Senators on their home floor who started well with the first five points from Izzy Miotti and Karly Murphy.
Murphy soon scored again for the 7-2 start for Warwick and she would go on to have a stunning first half, but the Cougars worked back into the contest and the Senators were only leading 22-19.
Things remained tight throughout the second quarter too and the Senators were still leading 40-34 with Murphy putting up 23 points and 15 rebounds despite star guards Chloe Forster and Stacey Barr only combining for one lone point on 0/10 shooting.
The Cougars were doing well defensively on those two Warwick stars, but only scoring the 34 first half points was where they came up short and they began to turn that around in the third period.
Cockburn outscored Warwick 21 points to 17 but the Senators were still clinging to the 57-55 lead by three quarter-time.
It was then all the Cougars in the fourth quarter as the defending champions put up 33 points to just 15 from the Senators to end up winning by 14 points and move into a home preliminary final at Wally Hagan Stadium next Saturday.
The defensive performance Cockburn was led by Steph Gorman but the whole team chipping in on Chloe Forster and Stacey Barr was outstanding. Forster had just three points on 1/10 shooting while Barr had three points on 1/14 shooting.
Perhaps spurred on by missing a spot in one of the All NBL1 West Teams last Saturday night, Daniel Raber was a powerful force once more for the Cougars with 28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 11/16 shooting.
On top of her defensive performance, Gorman hit 5/13 from three-point range for 17 points, six rebounds and three assists with Jewel Williams contributing 17 points, four boards, four assists and three steals, Jessie Edwards 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks, and Alex Ciabattoni nine points, eight assists and six boards.
The Senators will now play host to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night with the winner to move into the preliminary final against the winner of Saturday's qualifying final between the Rockingham Flames and Perry Lakes Hawks.
Karly Murphy finished the night with 30 points, 17 rebounds and five assists on 11/20 shooting from the floor and 7/8 at the free-throw line for Warwick.
Izzy Miotti took her chances to hit 4/7 from downtown in her 150th game of a career that did start at Cockburn to finish with 18 points while Nat Burton added 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
WARWICK SENATORS 72 (Murphy 30, Miotti 18, Burton 13)
COCKBURN COUGARS 88 (Raber 28, Williams 17, Gorman 17)
