Featured image: James Worsfold / Sports Imagery
The Willetton Tigers have completed the most amazing 48 hours to eliminate the last two NBL1 West men's champions to reach the Grand Final at RAC Arena while the paths couldn’t have been more different for the Rockingham Flames and Cockburn Cougars women.
BUCCS EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING AND MORE DESANTIS HOPED
GORMAN EXCITED FOR HOME PRELIM, WARY OF HAWKS
RECAP NBL1 WEST | SEMI FINALS FRIDAY
GODFREY ALWAYS HAD FULL FAITH FLAMES WOULD FIRE AT RIGHT TIME
JONES FOCUSED ON LAKESIDE SUCCESS BUT DREAMING BIG
RETIRING ROSCOE THANKFUL FOR EVERYTHING BASKETBALL GAVE HER
WOMEN
Cockburn Cougars (93) defeated Perry Lakes Hawks (70)
The Cockburn Cougars have timed their run perfectly to be playing their best basketball of 2024 heading into the Grand Final after beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 93-70, but will be holding their breath over the health of co-captain Jewel Williams.
The Cougars are the defending champions in the NBL1 West and they did lose three of their opening 12 games of the season while waiting for their full squad to come together.
However, once imports Daniel Raber and Maria Blazejewski settled along with Perth Lynx WNBL pair Steph Gorman and Alex Ciabattoni, then they started to play some ominous basketball to close the regular season.
That saw Cockburn end up winning eight of the last nine games before a commanding 16-point road qualifying win over the Warwick Senators to set up the home preliminary final at a sold out Wally Hagan Stadium.
The Cougars were taking on a Perry Lakes team who had overcome blows all season long, but stuck firm and ended up in fourth position at the end of the regular season.
The Hawks then bounced back from a loss to the Rockingham Flames to open the finals to beat the Willetton Tigers on Thursday night to setup the preliminary final match up with the Cougars.
It was a dominant opening from Cockburn with the home team scoring 14 straight points in the first period to open up a 20-point lead by quarter-time at 31-11.
That was despite losing point guard and co-captain Jewel Williams to an ankle injury four minutes into the game and she wouldn’t return the rest of the evening.
It wouldn’t deter Cockburn from the job at hand with the lead continuing to grow the rest of the evening as they led by 27 points in the second term, 30 in the third and 32 in the fourth.
The Cougars ended up scoring the 23-point victory to make it back-to-back Grand Final appearances with another standout defensive performance forcing Perry Lakes into 18 turnovers and holding them to 38 per cent field goal shooting.
The defensive performance of Cockburn especially on the two stars of the Hawks was outstanding as they limited Grace Stone to six points on 3/10 shooting and Ash Isenbarger to five points on 2/7.
Daniel Raber has had a superb first NBL1 West season for the Cougars and produced another 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists on 10/16 shooting.
Steph Gorman also delivered 15 points, two rebounds and two assists with Maria Blazejewski adding 13 points, Kinley Paterson 13 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Alex Ciabattoni 10 points, 10 boards and seven assists.
Perry Lakes might have fallen one stop short of a Grand Final, but considering they lost Jayda Clark and Morgan Ballantyne at the start of the season, and played with just the one import, it was a standout effort by coach Craig Mansfield to get this far.
Hawks captain Maddy Dennis put up 18 points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Millie McCarthy contributed 16 points and three assists, and Eryn Fisher six points and four rebounds.
COCKBURN COUGARS 93 (Raber 21, Gorman 15, Paterson 13, Blazejewski 13)
PERRY LAKES HAWKS 70 (Dennis 18, McCarthy 16, Fisher 6, Stone 6)
Rockingham Flames (92) defeated Lakeside Lightning (86)
The Rockingham Flames pulled out a remarkable 92-86 overtime victory after looking down and out against the Lakeside Lightning to book in a Grand Final spot at RAC Arena.
Rockingham had looked invincible at certain parts of the 2024 season and did finish in top spot at 18-2 to close the regular season before booking in a home preliminary final by beating the Perry Lakes Hawks in a qualifying final.
However, the Hawks had pushed Rockingham to the limit and Lakeside was attempting to do that at Mike Barnett Sports Complex as well with a Grand Final place on the line.
The Lightning had limped into the end of the regular season having lost five of their last six matches, but they then dominated the Perth Redbacks to win by 43 points.
Lakeside then stayed on the road to beat the second ranked Warwick Senators by four points on Thursday night to set up their tilt at Rockingham on Saturday evening in front of a big crowd with both teams well supported.
There were fascinating match ups everywhere including down low between former Joondalup Wolves teammates Nes'eya Parker-Williams and Teige Morrell, along with Emma Gandini and Robbi Ryan in the back court for the Flames against Caitie Jones and Marnelle Garraud for the Lightning.
Having gone into Warwick on Thursday night to cause the upset, there was no fear from the Lightning and precious separated the two teams throughout a dramatic evening.
Scores were all level at 20-20 by quarter-time before it was Lakeside narrowly leading 37-35 at the half-time break.
The stage was set for a big finish and even when Rockingham threatened to break the game open by scoring eight consecutive points for a 10-point lead in the third quarter, Lakeside hit back impressively.
So much so that the Lightning put themselves in a strong position to claim what would have been a shock upset victory with Marnelle Garraud hitting a pair of massive three-pointers to firstly tie up scores with four minutes to play.
Garraud then hit a third triple in the matter of minutes to put the Lightning in front before Teige Morrell finished inside after Garraud was able to grab an offensive rebound after missing a three-point attempt.
That had the Lightning up two with two minutes to play and that was again the margin with Caitie Jones scoring with just under a minute to play.
There were a couple of dramatic steals that the Rockingham full court pressure was able to force where Robbi Ryan capitalised to score the tying bucket.
That's where the scores would stay in the end after a tense finish to regulation and the Grand Final spot would be determined in overtime.
Morrell scored first in overtime for Lakeside before 184-game veteran Tia Ucich made a free-throw to put the Lightning up three before Ryan and Georgia Pineau combined to bring Rockingham back level.
Garraud knocked down her sixth three of the night to give the Lightning the lead by that margin, but over the final two minutes it was all Rockingham.
Nes'eya Parker-Williams put the Flames back level with a huge three-pointer before two-time MVP Alex Sharp made a pair of free throws, and then off a turnover Pineau finished inside for the home team.
Emma Gandini then iced the six-point win at the foul line with Rockingham advancing to a first Grand Final since 2019, and attempting to win a fourth women's championship in the last decade.
Nes'eya Parker-Williams has been brilliant in her first season with Rockingham and could consider herself mighty unlucky to have not made an All NBL1 West Team. She showed why she belonged with 25 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Alex Sharp also had 19 points, 15 rebounds and three assists while Georgia Pineau contributed 16 points, five boards, four assists and two steals, Robbi Ryan 16 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Emma Gandini 13 points, four steals, three boards and two assists.
Lakeside deserves to be mighty proud to have eliminated the Redbacks and Senators, and pushing the Flames so far in this finals series despite the natural disappointment of losing.
Marnelle Garraud knocked down 6/14 from three-point land for 21 points and seven rebounds for Lakeside with MVP Teige Morrell delivering 20 points, 22 rebounds and nine assists.
Caitie Jones also had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists ahead of now heading off for her first season in Germany while Jade Gowland knocked down 4/11 from downtown for 15 points and five boards to cap off the best season of her 86-game career.
Captain Tia Ucich marked her return season to Lakeside with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 92 (Parker-Williams 25, Sharp 19, Ryan 16, Pineau 16)
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 86 (Garraud 21, Morrell 20, Jones 16)
MEN
Geraldton Buccaneers (89) lost to Willetton Tigers (98)
What a remarkable three days it has been for the Willetton Tigers as they pulled off two stunning upsets against the last two NBL1 West champions with Saturday night's 98-89 win in Geraldton over the Buccaneers.
The Tigers were staring down the barrel of another straight sets finals exit after a fast start from the Rockingham Flames against them at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Thursday night.
However, Marshall Nelson fired in scintillating fashion on his way to 48 points to lead the Tigers to the 108-103 win against the Flames with their reward to head to Geraldton to take on the raging favourite Buccaneers on Saturday night.
It was a sold out Active West Stadium full of Geraldton locals awaiting Willetton too with the Buccs the reigning NBL1 West champions and having dominated the 2024 season finishing four games clear in top spot.
The Buccs then beat the Mandurah Magic in an exciting qualifying final last Saturday night to get to stay home and get ready to host the Tigers with a spot in the Grand Final at RAC Arena on the line.
Geraldton had lost just twice all year, but both those games had been at home and right from the outset it was a Willetton team who came in with a nothing to lose attitude as they put the pressure back on the home team.
Coming in with the momentum of that stunning come from behind win against Rockingham, the Tigers opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter but that was back to just two at quarter-time.
It was in the second frame when Willetton made its move and getting Buccs point guard Nik DeSantis into foul trouble did seem to throw the home team off kilter.
Marshall Nelson, Michael Vigor, Michael Dupree and Tom Gerovich all made massive three-pointers in the second quarter with Willetton piling on 31 points to 13 to head into half-time with the 54-34 lead.
Geraldton was always going to come out breathing fire in the second half, but Willetton had all the answers to start with and the lead blew out to as much as 31 points.
The Buccs were trying to mount a fight back and it was Johny Narkle who took it upon himself to lead the charge. The 1000-plus crowd erupted when Narkle did knock down a three and appeared to be fouled late in the third quarter.
Had he converted that four-point play, the margin could have been back to 17. However, the local crowd and the Buccs players erupted when the offensive foul was called.
The result was a tech foul made by Nelson and another free-throw to Gerovich and Willetton were still leading by 23 points at three quarter-time.
Geraldton is famous for being so tough to put away so the Buccs were always going to keep on coming with their season on the line, and the home team did have that 31-point deficit all the way back to six with three minutes to play after a bucket to Joshua Keyes.
The Buccaneers had all the momentum at that point too but Nelson responded with a jumper to quieten the home crowd.
Eventually Willetton had the answers and a three-point bomb from 303-game big man Michael Vigor was the killer blow and the Tigers had pulled off perhaps the heist of the NBL1 West competition since inception in 2021 with the nine-point win.
Willetton qualifies for a first men's Grand Final since 2010 which was also the year of the lone championship for the Tigers as they now await their opponents next Saturday night at RAC Arena with Sunday's preliminary final between the Joondalup Wolves and Mandurah Magic.
The coaching effort of Adam Nener to get his team to a Grand Final can't be glossed over with him masterminding the wins now over Rockingham and Geraldton in the space of 48 hours.
Marshall Nelson delivered another 26 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals on 5/9 three-point shooting.
Michael Dupree landed 4/9 from downtown too for 18 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists with Michael Vigor providing 13 points, four assists and three boards.
Deng Gak also put up 15 points, six rebounds and three assists with Roosevelt Williams Jr adding nine points, and Damien Scott celebrated his 350th game with two points, four rebounds and three assists.
It's going to take some time for the Buccaneers to come to terms with a dominant season ending like that on their home floor in a preliminary final after finishing four games clear in top spot chasing a first ever back-to-back championship triumph.
Johny Narkle did all he could to give Geraldton a chance with 40 points, 11 rebounds and three assists with 6/12 from three-point territory.
Joshua Keyes added 22 points, 16 rebounds and three assists with Nik DeSantis contributing 10 points, three boards and two assists, Josh Braun 10 points, and Liam Hunt six points, four assists and three rebounds.
GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 89 (Narkle 40, Keyes 22, DeSantis 10, Braun 10)
WILLETTON TIGERS 98 (Nelson 26, Dupree 18, Gak 15)
