NBL1 West Recap | Friday Round 16

Buay Tuach and the South West Slammers ended the playoff hopes of the Cockburn Cougars in Friday night's NBL1 West action while the Cougars women locked in a top two spot, and the Lakeside Lightning and Warwick Senators split their fixtures.

Two venues were in action on Friday night in the penultimate round of the NBL1 West season and the women's results saw the Cockburn Cougars beat the South West Slammers 114-34, and the Warwick Senators defeat the Lakeside Lightning 100-77.

Then in the men's action, the Slammers beat the Cougars 104-81, and the Lightning defeated the Senators 98-94.

WOMEN

Cougars secure top two, likely top spot with big win

The Cockburn Cougars secured a top two finish and likely a first ever regular season championship for their women's team by delivering a 114-34 hammering to the South West Slammers.

The Cougars arrived at Eaton Recreation Centre for the top against bottom clash not taking anything for granted and wanting to use the match as a tune up for the playoffs, and they never took the foot off the gas on the winless Slammers.

Already by quarter-time and Cockburn had opened up a 16-point advantage which only kept growing the rest of the evening. The margin got as high as 44 points in the second quarter, 64 in the third and 80 in the fourth which was the final winning margin.

The victory means that the Cougars can't drop out of the top two now with a 17-2 record and will claim the club's first ever regular season women's championship barring a loss at home next Friday to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The loss is the biggest of the season for the winless Slammers who now have a losing streak of 30 games dating back to last year and 71 of the last 72 going back beyond that.

Cockburn forced South West into a monstrous 42 turnovers for the night and combined with pulling down 58 rebounds to 42 including 29 to 12 at the offensive end meant the Cougars took an extra 51 field goals for the game.

The Cougars also shot at 45.0 per cent from the field while hitting 10/36 from downtown with the Slammers going at just 24.5 per cent and making 2/13 from beyond the arc.

Sarah Mortensen continued her spectacular form for Cockburn with another 35 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists on 16/23 shooting from the floor.

Steph Gorman added 26 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, Patty Brossmann 22 points, eight boards and seven steals, and Amelia Corasaniti nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Jasmine Barrett top-scored for the Slammers with 10 points and four rebounds with Javene Fitch adding seven points and seven boards, and Grace Adams pulled down 10 boards.

Cockburn's Sarah Mortensen is hitting form at the ????? ???? ?

The Cougars' star dropped 35 points in the win over the Slammers - averaging 3??1?? points in her past five games ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 14, 2023

Forster lifts Senators to win over Lightning

Chloe Forster produced the best performance of her NBL1 West career at the Warwick Senators to be instrumental in the eventual 100-77 victory on the road to the Lakeside Lightning.

With two rounds of the regular season remaining, the Senators are still an outside shot of sneaking into the top four while Lakeside just needed a win to ensure its hold on eighth position.

That set the stage for a fascinating match up at Lakeside Recreation Centre and it was a tight affair throughout the first half with both teams having their time in charge.

The Lightning would lead by as much as five points in both the first and second quarters, and the Senators would lead by as much as seven, and by half-time it was Warwick clinging to a 42-39 lead.

However, it was all the Senators in the second half as they ended up outscoring the Lightning 58 points to 38 to lead by 16 points in the third stanza, and 27 in the fourth before securing the eventual 23-point victory.

The win improves Warwick to a 12-7 record on the season having won five straight with a game at home to the Rockingham Flames to finish. Lakeside is still eighth at 7-11 but only just before playing Joondalup on Saturday and Mandurah next Friday.

Chloe Forster was playing her 77th game with the Senators having started her career as a 16-year-old and she perhaps delivered her most outstanding all-round performance on Friday night.

Ahead of being a full roster member at the Perth Lynx for the first time, Forster delivered 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and seven steals to be instrumental in the eventual win.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard added 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks, Nat Burton 16 points, six boards, three assists and three steals, Stacey Barr 14 points, six assists and four rebounds, and Karly Murphy 13 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists.

It turned out a tough second half for Lakeside but captain Caitie Jones still ended up with 24 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Kylee Smith added 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Laci Hawthorne 15 points, six boards, four assists and four steals, and Jade Gowland eight points and six rebounds.

Caitlyn Jones hit ????? triples in a minute and a half ?

Shooters. Gonna. Shoot ?

Watch #NBL1West via https://t.co/NEk1I7kaV8 or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/Mq5yczvwCG

— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 14, 2023

MEN

Tuach brilliant as Slammers dunk Cougars

The South West Slammers produced their most complete performance of the season to beat the Cockburn Cougars 104-81 on Friday night to end their playoff aspirations.

The Cougars arrived at Eaton Recreation Centre knowing they needed to win their remaining two matches and relying on the Lightning to lose all of theirs for them to sneak into eighth position for the playoffs.

A well short of 100 per cent Gavin Field along with the continued absence of Keegan and Luke Phillips certainly didn’t help the cause of the Cougars, and really for the entire game they were never in the contest.

The Slammers came out on a mission on their home floor scoring the game's first six points and then leading 11-2. At no point in the entire game were Cockburn able to find a way to get in front with South West continuing to pull away all evening.

With Buay Tuach proving unstoppable, the Slammers would end up leading by 15 points in the second quarter, 19 in the third and 29 in the fourth before settling on the 23-point victory.

The win improves South West to a 4-16 record on the season snapping a six-game losing run while the Cougars now are out of the playoff hunt at 8-13 behind the eighth placed Lakeside who are 10-10.

Tuach proved the star for the Slammers in the win delivering 41 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and two steals on 15/24 shooting from the field and 10/12 at the foul line.

Ben Stevens produced 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals also for South West, Xavier Cotton 13 points and two boards, Jack Flynn 11 points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds, and Clive Weeden nine points, four boards and two assists.

It was a night where the Cougars just never got going with Taj Benning finishing with 20 points and two rebounds, Courtney Alexander II 19 points, nine boards and four assists, Josh Hunt 13 points and seven rebounds, and Nathan Pond seven points and 13 boards.

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Dropping a massive 4??1?? points, along with 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and a block, he guided the Slammers to a big dub ?

Watch #NBL1West via https://t.co/NEk1I7kaV8 or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/bmSdOnxuQ7

— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 14, 2023

Mackenzie's late bombs give Lightning win over Senators

The Lakeside Lightning all but locked away their playoff position for 2023 with a dramatic 98-94 victory with some late Rowan Mackenzie three-point bombs instrumental in the win against the Warwick Senators. 

The Senators arrived at Lakeside Recreation Centre in their best patch of form for the season having won four straight to be closing in on a top four finish while Lakeside needed the win to maintain their hold on eighth spot.

It was the Lightning who were in control virtually the whole evening including opening up an 11-point lead just before quarter-time.

Lakeside would end up leading by 14 points in the second quarter, 17 in the third and were still on top by 11 in the fourth, but the Senators weren’t going away.

Warwick went on to knock down 11 consecutive points that included consecutive three-point daggers from Connor Mincherton. Captain Cody Ellis then dropped another and suddenly with three points to play the Senators had drawn level.

Rowan Mackenzie then responded with a triple of his own for Lakeside, Ethan Elliott hit another soon after for the Senators and then Mackenzie nailed another for the home team.

That last one ended up being the dagger blow and ultimately it was Kyle Armour who sealed the deal at the foul line to make it a four-point ball game which would prove the final margin.

It's a crucial win in the context of the season for the Lightning as they improve to a 10-10 record in eighth spot to be well clear now of the 8-12 Kalamunda and 8-13 Cockburn.

Max Richards had the best game of his 19-game career with Lakeside delivering 25 points, 10 rebounds and two assists while Rowan Mackenzie knocked down 4/5 from behind the three-point arc for 15 points, nine assists, five steals and three boards.

Josh Davey added another 18 points and 14 rebounds, Daniel Green 17 points and two boards, and Kyle Armour 11 points, three assists and two rebounds.

Ethan Elliott showed just why he is a guard with such a bright future likely at the next level with another 29 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals for the Senators.

Captain Cody Ellis added 20 points, four boards and two blocked shots, Connor Mincherton 16 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Caleb Davis 13 points, six rebounds and three assists while 204-game veteran big man Ash Litterick returned for his first game since April 29.