Feature images via: Arctic Moon Photography
The Rockingham Flames had two big NBL1 West wins over the Eastern Suns while the East Perth Eagles ended a 10-year drought in Geraldton and the South West Slammers men got back on the winner's list.
The Saturday night women's contests saw the Perth Redbacks defeat the South West Slammers 95-54 while the Cockburn Cougars beat the Warwick Senators 87-70, the Lakeside Lightning beat the Willetton Tigers 97-79, the Rockingham Flames defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 97-51, and the Mandurah Magic won 70-53 over the Goldfields Giants.
Saturday's men's action then saw the East Perth Eagles beat the Geraldton Buccaneers 87-72 while the Slammers beat the Redbacks 81-73, the Senators defeated the Cougars 113-93, the Tigers downed the Lightning 111-90, the Flames won 91-72 against the Eastern Suns, and the Magic defeated the Giants 107-94.
HUNTINGTON PROUD TO SHARE 300 WITH THOSE CLOSE TO HIM
RECAP NBL1 WEST | PINK ROUND FRIDAY
NOTHING BUT EXCITEMENT FOR DAVIS TO FACE SENATORS
RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 6 SUNDAY
WOMEN
Perth Redbacks (95) defeated South West Slammers (54)
The Perth Redbacks welcomed back Natalie Chou and returned to the winner's list with the 95-54 home victory against the South West Slammers.
The Redbacks lost to the Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium by 58 points on Friday night without star duo Anneli Maley and Chou, but the latter was back on Saturday for the clash with the Slammers at Belmont Oasis.
Perth got off to the fast start with a run of 14 straight points in the first quarter to open up a lead by as much as 22 points and they went on with the job from there.
The Redbacks would go on to lead by 27 points in the second quarter, 32 in the third and 45 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 41-point victory.
The win improves Perth to a 5-6 record on the season with Natalie Chou not only back, but starring with 26 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals on the back of shooting 11/19 from the floor.
Mikayla Pirini added 20 points, five assists and five rebounds, Shenae Hartree 19 points and nine boards, Brooke Malone 11 points, 19 rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Raya Thompson eight points, three boards, three assists and two steals.
Alexis Donovan continues to be a shining light for a Slammers team who has now lost 41 straight matches. She finished with 14 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Charlotte Mills also had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, Bree Chalk seven points and three boards, and Zaya Black six points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists.
PERTH REDBACKS 95 (Chou 26, Pirini 20, Hartree 19)
SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 54 (Donovan 14, Mills 10, Chalk 7)
Warwick Senators (70) lost to Cockburn Cougars (87)
The defending champion Cockburn Cougars were right back to their defensive best to shut down Chloe Forster and the Warwick Senators for the 87-70 victory.
Both teams had played, and won, on Friday night with the Cougars winning at home against the Perth Redbacks while the Senators went up to Joondalup to beat the Wolves.
That set the stage nicely for Saturday's contest at Warwick Stadium between the last two championship winning teams and it was Cockburn who got the better of the start scoring 10 straight points to go into quarter-time leading 27-21.
The Cougars pulled away further in the second quarter with 20 points to 12 to be on top 47-33 at half-time and Cockburn went on with the job from there.
The defending champions led by as much as 18 points in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth before winning by 17 and improving to a 7-2 record on the season as a result.
Perth Lynx guard Chloe Forster has been in blistering form for the Senators but the Cougars put the clamps on her led by her WNBL teammate and reigning Best Defensive Player Steph Gorman.
Gorman also finished with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with her Lynx back court teammate Alex Ciabattoni brilliant with 30 points, eight boards and four assists on shooting 12/18 from the field.
Daniel Raber added 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, Jewel Williams 14 points and four boards, and Jessie Edwards 13 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals in the 200th game of her career.
Despite the loss, Karly Murphy stepped up for the Senators with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three steals with Stacey Barr adding 20 points, five rebounds and three assists, Nat Burton nine points, six boards and six assists, and Forster eight points, five rebounds and four assists on 1/10 shooting.
WARWICK SENATORS 70 (Murphy 24, Barr 20, Burton 9)
COCKBURN COUGARS 87 (Ciabattoni 30, Raber 17, Williams 14)
Lakeside Lightning (97) defeated Willetton Tigers (79)
The Lakeside Lightning are building nicely into the NBL1 West season after the 97-79 home victory against the Willetton Tigers.
Willetton looked to have got things on track with three consecutive wins including last Saturday by 23 points against the reigning champion Cockburn Cougars as they arrived at Lakeside Recreation Centre to take on the Lightning.
But the Lightning got on top late in the first quarter with 11 straight points to lead by 10 and never looked back from there.
Lakeside would still be leading 51-42 by half-time with that advantage growing to 15 points in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth before the home team secured the eventual 18-point victory.
The win improves the Lightning to a 5-2 record on the season with Teige Morrell producing a standout performance made up of 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists on 10/19 shooting from the floor.
Tia Ucich also delivered 23 points, six rebounds and four assists while Caitie Jones has wasted no time slotting right back in with 22 points, seven boards and four assists.
Marnelle Garraud also contributed 19 points, five steals, four assists and two rebounds, and Jade Gowland eight points, three boards and two blocked shots.
Willetton now slips to 4-4 on the season with the defeat despite Jillian Archer putting up 23 points and eight rebounds, Melisa Brcaninovic 20 points, three boards and three assists, and Desiree Kelley 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 97 (Morrell 25, Ucich 23, Jones 22)
WILLETTON TIGERS 79 (Archer 23, Brcaninovic 20, Kelley 14)
Kalamunda Eastern Suns (51) lost to Rockingham Flames (97)
Georgia Pineau and Emma Gandini delivered commanding performances as the Rockingham Flames stayed undefeated with the 97-51 victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
The Suns were back home at Ray Owen Sports Centre on a six-game losing streak and with the task ahead of attempting to hand the Flames a first defeat of the 2024 season.
Rockingham didn’t take long to take charge of the contest going on an 11-0 scoring streak in the first quarter before leading by 14, and still being in command 28-16 by quarter-time.
The Flames continued to dominate the rest of the way outscoring the Suns 25 points to 11 in the second quarter, 27 to 11 in the third and 17 to 13 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 46-point victory.
The win improves Rockingham to the perfect 9-0 record on the season with Georgia Pineau putting together a dominant performance consisting of 28 points and 16 rebounds.
The all-round performance at both ends of the floor of 210-game veteran Emma Gandini was spectacular and she ended up with 20 points, 14 rebounds, eight steals and seven assists.
Emily Steven also contributed 17 points on 5/6 three-point shooting for the Flames while Nes'eya Parker-Williams added 14 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, and Jess Jakens nine points, seven boards, five assists and two blocked shots.
The Eastern Suns have now lost the last seven matches to sit at 1-8 with Ella Fotu top-scoring with 15 points while Tiahna Sears added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant six points, 11 boards and two steals.
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 51 (Fotu 15, Sears 11, McGhee-Pleasant 6, Forrest 6)
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 97 (Pineau 28, Gandini 20, Steven 17)
Goldfields Giants (53) lost to Mandurah Magic (70)
The Mandurah Magic snapped a four-game losing slide with a 70-53 victory on the road to the Goldfields Giants in Kalgoorlie.
Both teams were looking for drought breaking wins with Goldfields having lost its past couple of matches to the Perth Redbacks while the Magic had lost four in-a-row ahead of the clash at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.
The Giants did start well on their home floor to lead 18-16 by the end of the first quarter and then by half-time the scores were all locked at 32-32 to set up a crucial second half for both teams.
It was Mandurah who had the better of proceedings coming out of the break to outscore the Giants 16 points to eight in the third quarter and 22 to 13 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 17-point victory.
The Magic steady their season with a 3-6 record with the win with the league's games record holder Casey Mihovilovich leading the charge in her 562nd game with 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Emma Klasztorny has played the majority of her 262-game career with Mandurah, but she did play a season at the Giants and put her former team to the sword with 18 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Kelly Bailey added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Rachel Halleen eight points and four rebounds, and Tiana Wilson-Palmer eight points, three rebounds and three assists.
Goldfields slips to a 1-6 record with the loss with Jhazmin Joson delivering 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Lauren Fech also ended up with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Anne Zipser 12 points and 11 boards.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 53 (Joson 16, Fech 13, Zipser 12)
MANDURAH MAGIC 70 (Mihovilovich 19, Klasztorny 18, Bailey 11)
MEN
Geraldton Buccaneers (72) lost to East Perth Eagles (87)
The remarkable winning run at home of the defending champion Geraldton Buccaneers is over with the East Perth Eagles scoring the stirring 87-72 victory on the road.
The stage was set for a fascinating match up at Active West Stadium and the fact neither team was full strength only added to the intrigue with the Buccs missing Grand Final MVP Johny Narkle and former league MVP Josh Braun.
The Eagles are still yet to welcome in former Grand Final MVP Lee Roberts and gun import Lukas Milner either, so that all but cancelled each other out to set up the match up where the Buccs put their home winning run on the line.
Geraldton had won 19 straight home games dating back to July 2022 but against East Perth it was even more significant coming into Saturday's game.
The Eagles hadn’t won in Geraldton since their championship year of 2014 but the Buccs had not only won nine straight home games against East Perth, but 15 consecutive matches overall.
Not only that, but the Buccaneers had yet to lose in 2024 coming off last year's championship with a perfect 7-0 record but East Perth started the game on fire with 11 straight points to lead by nine.
However, Geraldton hit back with its own 10-0 scoring run with the Eagles only leading 20-18 by quarter-time.
It remained a tight contest with the Eagles up one at half-time and then Geraldton by one at three quarter-time, but it was then all the visitors in the final period.
East Perth delivered some scintillating basketball with 32 points to 16 in the last term to end up winning by 15 points and to hand Geraldton a first home loss in nearly two years, and to win there themselves for the first time in 10 years.
It's a first win in 16 attempts for the Eagles over the Buccs with Sunday Dech delivering 19 points, four rebounds and two steals.
David Okwera hit a massive three in the fourth quarter to put the icing on the cake on his way to 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals with Sebit Reath returning from a finger injury with 14 points and 14 boards.
Nick Filpo hit 4/9 from downtown for 12 points and three assists with Taylor Young contributing 12 points and six assists, and Jerami Grace nine points.
Nik DeSantis ended up with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists for Geraldton with Liam Hunt putting up 18 points and 16 rebounds, Joshua Keyes 18 points and eight boards, and Aaron Ralph 10 points and 12 rebounds.
GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 72 (DeSantis 23, Hunt 18, Keyes 18)
EAST PERTH EAGLES 87 (Dech 19, Okwera 16, Reath 14)
Perth Redbacks (73) lost to South West Slammers (81)
The South West Slammers have been banging on the door of a second win of the season and it came on Saturday night with a strong all-round team performance to beat the Perth Redbacks 81-73.
Despite the absence of injured star Joe Cook-Green, the Redbacks managed to get away with a hard earned win on Friday on the road to the Cockburn Cougars ahead of backing up at Belmont Oasis against the Slammers on Saturday.
South West might have lost seven straight since a home win over Cockburn, but had been playing some exciting basketball and it came together for a second win of 2024 on Saturday night.
The Slammers were on top the entire evening leading 21-12 already by quarter-time and then going into half-time with a 39-28 advantage.
The Redbacks did attempt to mount a fightback in the third quarter and did put up 30 points, but the Slammers never surrendered the lead and were back up double-figures in the final term on the way to the eight-point victory.
The win improves the Slammers to a 2-8 record on the season with Buay Tuach once again top-scoring with 17 points and five rebounds.
He had plenty of support with Alex Holcombe putting up 13 points and eight rebounds, Mathiang Muo 13 points, seven boards and three assists, Devan Craig 10 points and three rebounds, Xavier Cotton nine points, and Pharell Keats eight points, nine assists and five rebounds.
It was a tough loss for a tired looking Redbacks outfit from the night before with Tevin Jackson putting up another 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Ioannis Dimakopoulos also had 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks, Miles Gibson 14 points and six boards, and Maris Colton nine points and three assists.
PERTH REDBACKS 73 (T Jackson 23, Gibson 14, Dimakopoulos 12)
SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 81 (Tuach 17, Holcombe 13, Muo 13)
Warwick Senators (113) defeated Cockburn Cougars (93)
The offensive arsenal even without two key pieces of the Warwick Senators was on show as they bounced back from a loss the previous night with the 113-93 victory against the Cockburn Cougars.
Both teams suffered losses on Friday night with the Senators losing on the road to the Joondalup Wolves while the Cougars dropped one at home to the Perth Redbacks.
So both teams were high on motivation arriving at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night even with key players missing on either side with Warwick still minus Cody Ellis and Zac Gattorna, and Cockburn without Seva Chan and Josh Hunt even though Hunter Clarke returned.
The fast-paced nature of the game suited the athletes of the Senators perfectly and the home team was leading 30-26 by quarter-time before pushing out that advantage to 12 in the second period, and going into half-time leading 60-51.
Warwick already had 84 points on the board by midway through the third quarter and that was an offensive clip they were going at that the Cougars just couldn’t match.
The Senators went on to score the 20-point victory in the finish to improve to 6-5 on the season with Perth Wildcats guard Michael Harris putting up 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists on shooting 5/9 from downtown.
Todd Withers added 26 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals with Kieran Berry ending up with 15 points and three assists against the team he played with last season under new Senators coach Andrew Cooper.
George Pearl also had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists for Warwick with Tyler Shand contributing nine points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and three blocked shots.
It caps off a tough weekend for the Cougars who now slip to 3-6 with Rhys Vague top-scoring with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Kyle Armour added 13 points and four assists, Hunter Clarke 13 points and three assists, and Gavin Field 11 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.
WARWICK SENATORS 113 (Harris 31, Withers 26, Pearl 18)
COCKBURN COUGARS 93 (Vague 23, Clarke 13, Armour 13)
Lakeside Lightning (90) lost to Willetton Tigers (111)
The Willetton Tigers made it seven straight wins on the back of a 63-point second half to beat the Lakeside Lightning 111-90.
The Lightning were back home at Lakeside Recreation Centre looking to make it consecutive wins this season for the first time after last week's win against the Eastern Suns, but arriving was a red hot Willetton team on a six-game winning streak.
It was a tight contest throughout the first half and despite the Tigers getting out to a 10-point lead in the second term, by half-time it was only a 48-43 advantage.
Lakeside had done well keeping pace with the Tigers, but the longer the game went and the more Willetton was able to pull away with the lead growing to 19 points in the third period, and 26 in the fourth.
Willetton would go on to score the 21-point win to make it seven straight victories with an 8-1 record with Michael Dupree producing another 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Damien Scott added 20 points with 3/4 three-point shooting while Michael Vigor put up 19 points, four rebounds and four assists, Deng Gak 12 points and 10 boards, and Roosevelt Williams 11 points, eight assists and three rebounds.
Lakeside is now 2-6 on the season following the loss with Mike Adewunmi finishing with 19 points and three steals.
Josh Davey added 19 points and eight rebounds, Marshawn Blackmon 17 points and six assists, and Dom Jackson 18 points and eight rebounds.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 90 (Davey 19, Adewunmi 19, Jackson 18)
WILLETTON TIGERS 111 (Dupree 27, Scott 20, Vigor 19)
Kalamunda Eastern Suns (72) lost to Rockingham Flames (91)
Jono Janssen showed just why he might be the shrewdest signing Rockingham Flames made this season as he put up 38 points in the 91-72 win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
The Flames came into the contest at Ray Owen Sports Centre without two-time MVP Devondrick Walker and captain Ryan Godfrey, but Janssen and Quintin Dove ensured Rockingham still got the job done without them.
Kalamunda was attempting to snap a five-game losing slide and record a second win of the season and also had the added motivation of captain Rob Huntington celebrating his 300th appearance in the league.
However, Rockingham blew the game wide open early and never looked back. The Flames scored 12 straight points in the first quarter to open up a 17-point lead, and to still be on top 33-16 by quarter-time.
The lead got out to 27 points in the second quarter and was still in the favour of Rockingham at half-time to the tune of 57-34.
Any time the Eastern Suns threatened to make a run the Flames would have the answers and that usually either came from dumping it down low to Janssen or Dove coming up with a big play.
Rockingham would end up winning the game by 19 points to improve to a 7-2 record on the season having come into the game with their first two losses of the season to the Willetton Tigers and Joondalup Wolves.
Janssen was just playing his third game with Rockingham having been playing in the NBL1 North the last two years with the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.
He delivered 38 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals on 11/19 shooting from the floor, 4/9 from beyond the arc and 12/13 at the foul line.
Quintin Dove is starting to find his groove now with the Flames too and put up 27 points, six rebounds and five assists on 12/16 shooting while Justin Beard contributed 11 points, 11 boards, four steals and three assists.
It was a rough night in the end for the Eastern Suns without star scorer Bryan Michaels with Marek Nelson ending up the top-scorer with 21 points to go with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Reece Maxwell also put up 12 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Rob Huntington six points and three rebounds in the 300-game milestone for his career.
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 72 (Nelson 21, Maxwell 12, Lowe 7)
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 91 (Janssen 38, Dove 27, Beard 11)
Goldfields Giants (94) lost to Mandurah Magic (107)
Joel Murray continues to press his case to be leading the MVP race in his first NBL1 West season with another dazzling performance to lead the Mandurah Magic to the 107-94 win against the Goldfields Giants.
A delayed road trip for the Magic to get to Kalgoorlie meant it was a later than usual start to the contest at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium, but once things did get underway it proved quite the eventful and emotional evening.
Goldfields started the game well on its home floor looking to back up last week's home victory against the Perth Redbacks with the Giants leading 28-23 by quarter-time on the back of a nine-point lead in the first period.
The Giants went back up seven in the second quarter, but then Mandurah worked its way on top scoring seven straight points, and at half-time the Magic were leading 47-45.
Both teams then combined to score 61 points in the third quarter with Mandurah putting up 32 and Goldfields 28 with the Magic to end up leading 79-74 by three quarter-time.
Mandurah ended up scoring 13 straight points either side of three quarter-time to take control of the contest and the frustrations spilled over for the Giants including two tech fouls for Randy Bell to see him ejected.
The Magic would go on to lead by as much as 22 points and then win by 13 to improve to a 5-5 record on the season as a result.
Joel Murray had another spectacular performance in the win for Mandurah made up of 42 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 12/20 shooting from the floor and 16/17 at the foul line.
Jarrod Molnar also knocked down 7/13 from three-point range for 22 points while Michael Durr delivered 18 points and 22 rebounds, and Lachlan Bertram 16 points, nine assists and eight boards.
De'Sean Parsons produced 33 points and 12 rebounds on 14/19 shooting for the Giants despite the loss with Randy Bell adding 29 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Damon Ballantyne also finished with 19 points and Mayo Malek five points, eight rebounds and two assists.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 94 (Parsons 33, Bell 29, Ballantyne 19)
MANDURAH MAGIC 107 (Murray 42, Molnar 22, Durr 18)
