Featured images: Travis Anderson | @andmediaphoto
Daniel Raber was huge as the defending NBL1 West champion Cockburn Cougars women kept on winning on Sunday before the Goldfields Giants men held out the Cougars to keep their momentum going led by Randy Bell and De'Sean Parsons.
Round 11 in the NBL1 West wrapped up at Wally Hagan Stadium on Sunday with the Cougars women winning 108-70 and then the Giants men prevailing 95-83.
RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 11 SATURDAY
RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 11 FRIDAY
HERITAGE ROUND – THE FISHER FAMILY
HERITAGE ROUND – THE JACKSON FAMILY
NBL1 WEST MID-SEASON SNAPSHOT – MEN
NBL1 WEST MID-SEASON SNAPSHOT – WOMEN
WOMEN
Cockburn Cougars (108) defeated Goldfields Giants (70)
It was a significant challenge to close the road double for the Goldfields Giants on Sunday at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Cockburn Cougars flexed their muscles with the 108-70 victory.
Cockburn was back on its home floor for the Sunday match up fresh off beating the Joondalup Wolves on the road by 32 points the previous night while the Giants began their road double losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks by 40 points.
The signs were ominous early with the Cougars racing out to the 12-4 start on the back of a pair of three-pointers from last year's Grand Final MVP Steph Gorman, but the Giants then did well to work back into the contest.
Goldfields went on a 13-3 run of their own to briefly grab the lead and by quarter-time it was Cockburn just clinging to the 27-26 advantage.
The Cougars did begin to pull away throughout the second quarter ending up with 29 points to 19 to go into half-time on top 57-45.
Cockburn completed a 15-0 scoring run in the third quarter and then would end up blowing the game wide open with the lead getting out to as much as 30 points.
That grew to 43 points in the final period and the Cougars would end up scoring the 38-point victory to make it four wins in-a-row and to improve to a 12-3 record to be hot on the heels of top two teams Rockingham and Warwick.
Daniel Raber was a dominant presence in the win for Cockburn finishing with 29 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and five steals on 14/22 shooting from the field in quite the all-round showing from the Israeli centre.
Alex Ciabattoni was strong as well with 23 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals with her Perth Lynx teammate Steph Gorman delivering 22 points, three assists and two steals.
Regan Turnour-McCarty also ended up with 11 points and six rebounds with Jewel Williams delivering nine points, three boards and three assists, and recent arrival Maria Blazejewski nine points, two rebounds and two assists after hurting an ankle in her first game two weeks ago.
The Giants did battle hard despite the final scoreline to now sit at a 3-11 record with captain Ash Sidebottom finishing 18 points and four rebounds on 8/12 shooting in the 179th game of her career.
Chloe Zorzi stepped up with her best performance of the season with 13 points, five rebounds and four steals with Jhazmin Joson contributing 11 points, seven boards and three assists, and Anne Zipser eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
The Cougars now take on the Lakeside Lightning back at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday while the Giants return home for a match up with the Willetton Tigers.
COCKBURN COUGARS 108 (Raber 29, Ciabattoni 23, Gorman 22)
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 70 (A Sidebottom 18, Zorzi 13, Joson 11)
MEN
Cockburn Cougars (83) lost to Goldfields Giants (95)
While the Cockburn Cougars did throw a little scare into them in the final quarter, it was another standout performance from the Goldfields Giants with a fifth straight win after prevailing 95-83.
The Giants arrived at Wally Hagan Stadium on Sunday afternoon in hot form having won four in-a-row including the win to start their road trip on Saturday night against the Perry Lakes Hawks.
So they arrived to take on the Cougars full of confidence up against a Cockburn team on a nine-game losing run. While they regained Josh Hunt for the match up, they lost Seva Chan with Hunter Clarke, Demetris Morant and Will Yarran also sidelined.
Goldfields then made a hot start going on a 14-0 run in the opening period to lead by as much as 17 points and to be on top 25-12 by quarter-time.
It was even more emphatic from the Giants in the second quarter with the lead getting out to as much as 32 points with Goldfields ending up outscoring Cockburn 29 points to 10 to go into half-time in control of the contest leading 54-22.
Things were looking bleak for the Cougars and midway through the third quarter Gavin Field and Rhys Vague sat down and coach Mark Clayden didn’t call them back into the game.
However, the Cougars did show some good fight in the fourth quarter and even managed to go on a 16-0 scoring run to breathe some life back into the contest with Kyle Armour knocking down some big threes, Josh Hunt joining in and Nathan Pond working hard inside.
There was also a spark from fourth gamer Jonah Palelei and suddenly it was just an eight-point game with three minutes to play and the Giants were getting shaky.
Randy Bell's frustration even spilled over to earn a technical, but he also helped the Giants steady the ship and to hold out the Cougars for the eventual 12-point victory.
It's five straight wins now for Goldfields as they improve to a 9-6 record on the season with import pair Randy Bell and De'Sean Parsons mighty impressive again combining for 45 points, 15 assists, 13 rebounds, four steals and two blocks.
Bell finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals with 4/8 three-point shooting while Parsons delivered 22 points, nine assists, six boards, two steals and two blocked shots.
They had plenty of help too with Damon Ballantyne putting together 13 points and five rebounds with Mayo Malek adding 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, Hamish Cummings 11 points on 3/6 three-point shooting, and Kon Anguik six points, seven rebounds and two assists.
The Cougars have now lost 10 in-a-row but they are finding some players for the future with Jonah Palelei having the best performance of his four-game NBL1 career with 11 points on 3/5 three-point shooting in 13 and-a-half minutes.
Nathan Pond continues his career-best season too with 14 points and nine rebounds while Josh Hunt was back into the line-up for 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
At the forefront of things for Cockburn without fellow point guards Seva Chan and Hunter Clarke was 305-game veteran Kyle Armour who finished with 22 points, seven assists and three rebounds on hitting 6/8 from beyond the arc.
The Cougars now take on the Lakeside Lightning back at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday while the Giants return home for a match up with the Willetton Tigers.
COCKBURN COUGARS 83 (Armour 22, Hunt 15, Pond 14)
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 95 (Bell 23, Parsons 22, Ballantyne 13)
