NBL1 West Recap | Friday Men's Semi Finals

Not to be outdone by Thursday night's semi-final, the drama continued on Friday night in the NBL1 West with the Joondalup Wolves surviving a heart stopper against the Goldfields Giants to advance to Sunday's preliminary final.

The semi finals in the NBL1 West Men got underway on Thursday night with a tremendous and dramatic affair at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Warwick Senators pulling off a stunning finish to defeat the Cockburn Cougars 79-77.

That meant the Senators advanced to Saturday night's preliminary final against the Rockingham Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

What was to be determined on Friday night was who would be travelling to Geraldton on Sunday to take on the Buccaneers in the other preliminary final.

The Joondalup Wolves were at home to the Goldfields Giants at HBF Arena Joondalup and the two teams put on quite the spectacle as they attempted to keep their seasons alive in 2022.

While the Wolfpack made a flying start on their home floor to lead by double-figures early, it was the Giants who worked their way on top and when leading by 14 points in the fourth quarter, they appeared heading to Geraldton for the preliminary final.

However, the Wolves refused to be denied and produced a remarkable fightback to grab the lead and then hold out the Giants who had a chance to still send the game to overtime on the last possession but couldn’t take one of their host of chances around the rim.

That means that Joondalup will now take on the Geraldton Buccaneers at Active West Stadium in the preliminary final to determine who reaches the Grand Final to take on either Rockingham or Warwick.

It's a rematch from the 2019 SBL Grand Final where the Buccs beat the Wolves, and while plenty of the faces and names might have changed, there's certainly no love lost between the two clubs.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
SEMI FINALS – FRIDAY NIGHT

JOONDALUP WOLVES 85 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 83

The seasons went on the line for both the Joondalup Wolves and Goldfields Giants on Friday night, and it was the Wolfpack prevailing in a heart stopping finish with the visitors just unable to push the game into overtime.

With the other semi-final taking place on Thursday night with the Warwick Senators winning in remarkable fashion against the Cockburn Cougars to book a preliminary final spot against the Rockingham Flames, it was the Wolves and Giants to grab the spotlight on Friday night.

The two teams locked horns at HBF Arena Joondalup with a place in Sunday's preliminary final against the Geraldton Buccaneers on the line, and it proved to be quite the dramatic contest.

The Wolfpack earned the right to host the semi-final on the back of finishing the regular season in third spot before losing their qualifying final in Rockingham last week while the Giants moved into the semi-final on the back of a home elimination final victory against the Mandurah Magic.

Joondalup was able to work their way on top late in the first quarter going on to score nine straight points to end up taking a 29-22 advantage into quarter-time.

However, Goldfields warmed to their task on a rare Friday night encounter for them having driving down to Perth from Kalgoorlie. The Giants took over in the second quarter to outscore the Wolves 23 points to 13 to see them hold a narrow 45-42 advantage at half-time.

Goldfields built on that momentum in the third quarter and by scoring eight straight points they built up a 13-point advantage, and that lead grew to as much as 14 during the fourth term.

The Giants did appear to keep having all the answers when they answered a Jonathan Wade triple with a nice inside basket to Hussayn Ford to still lead 77-70 with just under four minutes to play.

The Wolves kept coming, though, and a three-pointer from CJ Turnage and then bucket to Maris Colton going to the rack made it a two-point game to set up the huge finish.

It was then Julian Pesava who put his former team to the sword by draining the go-ahead three with just under two minutes to play but again the Giants responded thanks to Jesse Ghee to regain the one-point edge.

Turnage scored inside again to regain Joondalup's one-point lead before Wade and Ford trading baskets, and then Turnage went 1/2 at the line with the Wolfpack leading 85-83 with the last possession for Goldfields.

After Ghee's three-point corner shot didn’t fall, the Giants fought for the offensive rebounds inside and had a host of tip-in chances just before the buzzer, but it wasn’t to be and Joondalup held on to win 85-83.

The Wolves will now head to Geraldton to take on the Buccaneers in the preliminary final while the season ends in the most heartbreaking of ways for the Giants.

Jonathan Wade ended up delivering a huge performance for Joondalup finishing with 28 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals on 11/19 shooting.

CJ Turnage added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Wolves while Julian Pesava put up 18 points and six rebounds against his former team as he tries to add to his championship collecting after winning at the Cockburn Cougars back in 2016.

Maris Colton continued his emergence for the Wolfpack with another nine points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds with Jordan Wellsteed adding eight points and six boards.

Jesse Ghee had a terrific night for the Giants despite being heartbroken at the final result to finish with 28 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals while shooting 10/14 from the floor, 5/7 from beyond the arc and 3/4 at the foul line.

Hussayn Ford added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Goldfields, Mayo Malek 11 points and six boards, Gairges Daow nine points, five rebounds and five assists, and Lafonzo Smith six points and 11 boards.