Eagles Recap | Round 18 Women/Men

Image credit: @jeff.s.smith

There might not have been any wins for the East Perth Eagles in the last round of the NBL1 West but it mattered little in the big picture with the women's and men's teams now turning their attention to the finals.

First up on Friday night was a trip to Arena Joondalup for the Eagles where the Joondalup Wolves women prevailed 70-67 and the men also won 86-79 before the Geraldton Buccaneers also beat the East Perth men on Saturday 119-68 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

Despite those results, both Eagles teams finish the regular season in eighth position with the women with a 10-10 record while the men ended up at 9-13.

That means that it is an away elimination final for both East Perth teams this Saturday evening with the women up against the Mandurah Magic while the men take on the Joondalup Wolves.

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WOMEN

The Eagles women were already guaranteed of playing finals in 2025 no matter the result on Friday night which ended up seeing the Joondalup Wolves scoring the narrow 70-67 home victory.

The Eagles had the chance to still finish sixth or seventh with a win and depending on other results this round, and they did start well enough to lead 19-15 by quarter-time even while shooting 2/11 from downtown.

East Perth's shooting struggles continued in the second term with another 1/8 from deep and 4/18 overall with Joondalup outscoring them 17 to 11 as a result to go into the half-time break leading 32-30.

It was another 20 points to 18 from Joondalup in the third term as they hit 4/10 from deep with East Perth managing just 1/7, but the Eagles did draw back level to start the fourth term with scores to Sasha Goodlett and Madi Torresin.

The Wolfpack responded with an 8-2 record to be back out to a six-point lead which grew to seven with a Jhazmin Joson three ball, and from there they held out East Perth down the stretch for the eventual three-point win.

The Eagles will now enter the finals from eighth position with a 10-10 record with their cause not helped by shooting 5/33 from three-point territory to go with 21 turnovers for the night.

Madi Torresin had her best scoring performance since May 17 by finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Sasha Goodlett also had 19 points, 11 rebounds and two assists, Awatea Leach 11 points, five boards, five assists and two steals, and Abby Cubillo four points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Captain Tessa Morrison also had four points and three rebounds for East Perth, Taylor Roberts three points and two assists, and Ari van Vliet two points, a rebound and an assist.

MEN

The Eagles men didn’t quite have the final round they were hoping for but results worked in their favour on Friday night to mean they were locked into a playoff spot going into Saturday's home game against the Geraldton Buccaneers.

East Perth could have locked in their finals spot without replying on other results on Friday night when taking on the fifth ranked Joondalup Wolves at Arena Joondalup.

Despite the Wolves being guaranteed of staying fifth, there was not let up in the determination from Joondalup to go into the finals in winning form with the Eagles sitting in eighth position but needing to win one of their two games this weekend against top five teams to guarantee that place.

Armed with that knowledge, the Eagles started well to open up an early eight-point lead but the Wolves had managed to lead 23-20 by quarter-time thanks to a couple of late three-point bombs from Damon Ballantyne.

Joondalup kept that momentum going to open up a 13-point lead in the second period and to go into half-time leading 45-37.

East Perth's season was potentially on the line coming into the second half and they did score nine straight points with Jonah Antonio the inspiration as the Eagles grabbed a three-point lead.

But still by three quarter-time the Wolves were clinging to the 59-57 advantage before the Wolfpack did enough through the fourth quarter to lead the entire way and secure the seven-point victory.

Jonah Antonio top-scored for East Perth with 24 points and seven rebounds with Max Rice contributing 16 points and five boards with 5/11 three-point shooting.

Chier Maker added 14 points and five rebounds, Sharif Watson nine points and seven boards, and Lee Roberts seven points, 14 rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Matthew Lange also ended up with five points, two rebounds and two assists, and Nick Filpo three points, two assists and a rebound.

The Saturday match up at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre was one where there wasn’t a whole lot to gain for the Eagles who were already guaranteed of finishing eighth no matter the result despite losing on Friday night to the Wolves.

With the Eastern Suns losing at the same time to the Mandurah Magic, East Perth were locked into eighth ahead of playing host to a Geraldton team who beat the Perth Redbacks on Friday night and had to win again on Saturday to replace Warwick in second place and earn a home qualifying final.

With nothing really for East Perth to play for, leading scorer Max Rice didn’t suit up but still the home team stuck with Geraldton with the Buccs only holding the narrow 25-22 lead by quarter-time despite attempting an extra eight field goals.

It was in the second term where the Buccaneers really took control with 38 points to 16 with 14/24 shooting from the floor to the 5/18 from the Eagles.

That saw Geraldton lead 63-38 by half-time and then as the second half unfolded, both teams just largely went through the motions and emptied their benches with the result beyond doubt, and both preparing to start their finals campaign next week.

The Buccs ended up scoring the 51-point victory and now will enter the finals from second position with an 18-4 record and having won 11 straight matches.

East Perth will now be playing finals for a second straight season after a 10-year absence when they take on the Joondalup Wolves in an elimination final.

Fabian Johnson had the best of his 33-game career with East Perth by top-scoring with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists with 4/6 three-point shooting.

Teenager Kuron Swaka Lo Buluk made the most of his 14:30 of court time too with the younger brother of Perth Wildcats, Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks NBL champion Wani producing eight points and an assist.

Ioannis Dimakopoulos also scored nine points and had four rebounds with Chier Maker finishing with seven points and two boards, Matthew Lang six points, four rebounds and two assists, Lee Roberts six points, four boards and two assists, and Kai Kabugua four points, eight rebounds and two steals.