Heritage Round Eagles Wrap – Women/Men

Heritage Round in the NBL1 West saw double headers for the East Perth Eagles with a couple of tough defeats for the women across the WA Day long weekend while the men split their match ups.

Things got underway on Friday night for the Eagles in Heritage Round on Peter Campbell Basketball Arena at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre against the Perth Redbacks.

That saw the Eagles women go down to the Redbacks 108-65 before the East Perth men scored the 90-78 victory with Sunday Dech producing a triple-double.

That led into a road trip to Kalgoorlie on Sunday with the Eagles losing both encounters with the Goldfields Giants women winning 78-66 and their men also prevailing 109-88.

WOMEN

Despite a combined 38 points and 16 rebounds from Laci Hawthorne across both games, it wasn’t quite the WA Day long weekend Heritage Round results the East Perth Eagles were hoping for.

Heritage Round got underway on Friday night for the Eagles at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre up against a Perth Redbacks team having built some form and confidence with Natalie Chou and Anneli Maley making more regular appearances.

East Perth were attempting to hit back from the 18-point loss to the Redbacks earlier in the season and to also back up last week's tremendous road win over the Joondalup Wolves.

The Eagles did come into the game without Mary Goulding which didn’t help the cause at Peter Campbell Basketball Arena and the Redbacks made a fast start with 32 points to 18 in the opening quarter.

East Perth did go on a 7-0 scoring run either side of quarter-time but the Redbacks did end up outscoring them 28 points to 16 in the second term to go into half-time leading 60-34.

Then when the Redbacks had another 31 points to 14 in the fourth term they ended up winning by 43 points on a tough night for the Eagles on their home floor.

It was a costly turnover night for East Perth finishing with 38 of them for the game which led to taking 35 fewer field goals for the night so losing the possession game by that much had a big say in the final result.

Eagles forward Laci Hawthorne battled hard all evening to finish with 22 points and 10 rebounds on 8/15 shooting from the field, 3/4 from downtown and 3/4 from the foul line.

Mary Baskerville also ended up with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 4/6 shooting from the field and 6/8 from the free-throw line.

Tessa Morrison had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists as well with Ella Dimanlig contributing six points, Bri Bailey three points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Hannah Swarbrick, Cameron Flynn, Alyssa Bowen and Aleka Kabugua all scored two points.

The Eagles then backed that up with a flight to Kalgoorlie on Sunday morning ahead of taking on the Goldfields Giants that evening in the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

While East Perth were coming off that Friday night loss to Perth, Goldfields had also lost the night before the Rockingham Flames on their home floor by 40 points.

The Eagles did regain Mary Goulding for the contest, but lost Mary Baskerville and again it was the opposition getting the better of the start with Goldfields leading 29-19 by quarter-time.

The Giants then outscored the Eagles 15 points to five in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 34-24.

East Perth did outscore the Giants 42 points to 34 in the second half including going on a run of scoring 14 consecutive points, but the Eagles couldn’t quite get back closer than 10 points when Tess Morrison hit the technical free-throw with just over two minutes to play.

In the end the Giants ended up winning 78-66 with Laci Hawthorne once again top-scoring for East Perth with 16 points and six rebounds on shooting 8/14 from the floor.

Bri Bailey also delivered 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals with 4/9 three-point shooting in a fascinating match up with Jhazmin Joson from Goldfields.

Mary Goulding finished the night with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three steals with Tessa Morrison contributing 11 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, Sarah Allen nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Taylor Roberts three points, three boards and two assists.

MEN

The East Perth Eagles continued their run as one of the hottest teams in the NBL1 West with the Friday night win over the Perth Redbacks but couldn’t quite back it up in Kalgoorlie on Sunday against the Goldfields Giants.

The Eagles came into Heritage Round having won four of their past five matches ahead of hosting a Redbacks team at Peter Campbell Basketball Arena they owed one too after the loss at the buzzer earlier in the season at Belmont Oasis.

East Perth were able to make a fast start too opening up a 10-point advantage in the first quarter and then still being on top 28-20 by the end of one.

The Eagles were still leading 48-42 by half-time and then the home side was able to blow the game open further in the third frame by outscoring the Redbacks 26 points to 17.

That saw the lead for East Perth get out to as much as 16 points in the third period and 17 in the fourth before they went on to win 90-78 and make it five wins in the past six matches to improve to 7-5 on the season.

There was a lot to like in the performance from the Eagles with Sunday Dech delivering a triple-double consisting of 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while playing all but 2:30 of the contest.

His backcourt partner Taylor Young was tremendous too with 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots with Sebit Reath adding 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Jerami Grace was playing against his former team and put up 10 points, two assists and two steals for East Perth with fellow former Redbacks Lee Roberts (10 points, nine rebounds) and David Okwera (10 points, nine boards, four assists) also making strong contributions.

Sharif Watson ended up with four points and two blocked shots as well with Elijah Pawson scoring two points and having an assist.

That led into East Perth heading to Kalgoorlie on Sunday morning for the match up that evening with a Giants team who had won the last eight meetings between the two teams dating back to 2018.

With East Perth coming off the Friday night win over the Redbacks, the Giants also defeated the Rockingham Flames at home by 24 points on Saturday before hosting the Eagles on Sunday evening as part of the WA Day long weekend.

The Eagles cause wasn’t helped with the absence of David Okwera and with Lukas Milner yet to join the line-up, and the Giants were able to go on an 11-0 scoring run in the first quarter to end up leading by as much as 15 points.

The home team was still leading 31-25 by the end of one and still on top 52-42 by the half-time break.

The Giants then outscored the Eagles 57 to 46 in the second half to end up scoring the 21-point victory the Eagles now ending the round with a 7-6 record having split the two matches as part of Heritage Round in the NBL1 West.

On the back of his triple-double on Friday night, Sunday Dech backed it up for East Perth with another 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals on shooting 9/13 from the field.

Taylor Young added 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Eagles, and Sebit Reath 17 points and five boards.

Lee Roberts also had 11 points, 15 rebounds and two assists with Sharif Watson ending up with seven points and three boards, Nick Filpo five points, three rebounds and two assists, Jerami Grace five points and two assists, Anthony Filpo two points and two rebounds, and Nigel Adonis two points.