NBL1 West Recap | Friday Women's Finals Week 1

The Joondalup Wolves couldn’t have been more impressive in advancing to a preliminary final in the NBL1 West Women's Division while the Cockburn Cougars pulled off a stunning upset to eliminate the Rockingham Flames.

The playoffs of the inaugural NBL1 West season got underway across two venues on Friday night with last year's champions through to the preliminary final next week, the 2019 champions eliminated and then the other two teams setting up a battle in the semi finals next Friday.

Things got underway with the qualifying final between the second placed Joondalup Wolves and the third placed Perth Redbacks at HBF Arena Joondalup.

It was a remarkably dominant display from the outset by the Lady Wolfpack and they ended up beating the Redbacks 90-48 to advance to next Saturday night's preliminary final. The Redbacks get a second chance in Friday night's semi-final at Belmont Oasis.

Nes'eya Williams had 17 points for Joondalup, Kayla Steindl 17, Rebecca Benson 13, Chelseas Belcher 10 and Jasmine Martin 10. Makailah Dyer played a virtual lone hand for the Redbacks with 25 points.

Then at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the Rockingham Flames and Cockburn Cougars put their seasons on the line in an elimination final, but it would be fair to say Rockingham went into the contest warm favourites.

Having won the 2019 SBL title and having a team including a Perth Lynx WNBL back court of Alex Ciabattoni and Tayah Burrows, the Flames were a team on paper that appeared capable of being challengers in 2021 but they are now eliminated thanks to the Cougars.

Cockburn might have only just sneaked into the finals with a win last Saturday but now are into the second week of the finals after beating the Flames 81-75 impressively. 

Jessie Edwards was an unstoppable force for the Cougars inside with 31 points and 11 rebounds while Alex Ciabattoni had 21 points for Rockingham. 

The opening week of the finals continues now on Saturday evening with a qualifying final battle at Willetton Basketball Stadium between the Willetton Tigers and East Perth Eagles, and an elimination final at Warwick Stadium between the Warwick Senators and Mandurah Magic.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
FINALS WEEK 1– FRIDAY NIGHT

ELIMINATION FINAL – ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 75 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 81

The Rockingham Flames and Cockburn Cougars put their seasons on the line on Friday night with Cockburn scoring the upset road win to advance to the second week of the finals.

Neither team came into the playoffs in great form with Rockingham finishing in sixth spot with a 10-8 record but having lost their final three games of the regular season to East Perth, Mandurah and Joondalup following an impressive win over Warwick where they scored 100 points for the only time.

Cockburn finished seventh at 9-9 having only won three games after starting the season on fire winning six of the first eight which ultimately was enough for them to secure a finals appearance.

However, the Flames won the SBL championship in 2019 and still had the likes of Tayah Burrows, Alex Ciabattoni, Christina Boag, Ariana Hetherington, Paris Duffield and Chelsea Petrik from that group so a first round finals exit would not have been on their cards in 2021.

It was Cockburn who came out on fire on Friday night, though, despite playing away from home and they piled on 32 points in the first quarter while Rockingham only managed 22.

The Flames were able to turn the tide during the second quarter, though, with 19 points to 11 to cut Cockburn's lead to 43-41 by half-time.

Rockingham kept that momentum going in the third quarter to head into the fourth term leading 60-57, but Cockburn was far from ready to hand in their season.

But it was the dominance inside for the Cougars of Jessie Edwards that was proving the difference in the game and with five minutes to go, Cockburn had drawn level with the Flames.

A couple of free-throws from Edwards and then another putback on an offensive board saw the Cougars take the lead and she soon extended the advantage to four with another couple at the charity stripe.

Alex Ciabattoni hit a triple keep the Flames in touch with three minutes on the clock and then she responded to another pair of foul shots from Edwards with another three ball to tie scores up.

However, Kahlia Morgan nailed one from downtown for Cockburn and that proved the killer blow with Jorjah Smith unable to connect late for the Flames with the Cougars winning 81-75 to advance and end the season in disappointing fashion of Rockingham.

Jessie Edwards was the standout player on the court and led the Cougars to the victory with 31 points and 11 rebounds on 10/15 from the floor and 11/13 from the free-throw line.

Ruby Benn also finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Cockburn, Kahlia Morgan nine points and five boards, Molly Matthews eight points, Taylah Simmons eight points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and Jodee Sontay eight points and four boards.

Alex Ciabattoni did what she could for the Flames with 21 points and five rebounds while Christina Boag added 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Jorjah Smith also had nine points, Paris Duffield nine, Ariana Hetherington eight and Tayah Burrows seven to go with four rebounds and four assists.

QUALIFYING FINAL – JOONDALUP WOLVES 90 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 48

The Joondalup Wolves and Perth Redbacks had both earned a finals double chance, but the Lady Wolfpack soon put their stamp on Friday night's qualifying final at HBF Arena.

It loomed as a fascinating battle between two teams with an intriguing recent history against one another with a spot in the preliminary final on the line as the second placed Wolfpack hosted the third placed Redbacks.

The Redbacks had that added motivation of taking on former coach Charles Nix and a host of former players who are now at the Wolfpack, but for the Wolves they won 15 of 18 games of the regular season on the back of winning last year's West Coast Classic championship.

The Wolves set the tone for the evening with a hot start scoring the first four points before Kayla Steindl hit a three ball to give them the 7-2 opening. Nes'eya Williams then made it 9-2 but triples from Makailah Dyer and Bri Bailey for the Redbacks steadied the visitors.

The Redbacks then drew level with Dyer knocked down back-to-back three-pointers and it was game on, but the Wolves had all the answers with their impressive physical full court defence and then scoring punch.

Joondalup finished the quarter with a 9-4 run to lead 26-21 on the back of a Georgia Denehey three-point buzzer-beater.

Turnovers really began to hurt the Redbacks during the second quarter with the defensive pressure of the Wolves leaving them shaken, and thrown totally out of their usual game. 

They might have felt hard done by to not get some calls their way in response to the defence the Wolfpack was playing, but either way the home team really asserted their authority as the second quarter progressed. 

It was Chelsea Belcher's turn to hit a three on the buzzer going into half-time and Joondalup was on top 50-33.

Bailey hit her second three of the night to start the second half well for the Redbacks, but that would be as good as things got for the visitors with the Wolves scoring the next 13 points in a remarkably dominant run where the Redbacks continued to turn it over up the other end.

It was all academic from there with the Wolves going on to lead 72-40 by three quarter-time and to go on and score the 90-48 victory.

That means the Wolfpack advance to next Saturday's preliminary final to host either the Warwick Senators, Mandurah Magic, Willetton Tigers or East Perth Eagles.

The Redbacks can still get to a preliminary final if they get past the Cockburn Cougars in a semi-final on Friday at Belmont Oasis.

Not only did the Wolves force the Redbacks into 26 turnovers and hold the Redbacks to shooting 29 per cent from the floor, but they had plenty of strong contributors as they got within a win of reaching the Grand Final.

Nes'eya Williams finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, five steals, four assists and two blocked shots on 8/13 shooting from the field.

Kayla Steindl also put up 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals with Rebecca Benson contributing 13 points, five boards and two steals, Chelsea Belcher 10 points and four rebounds, Jasmine Martin 10 points, and Amber Land nine points.

It was a tough night for the Redbacks but they have earned a double chance to still make something of this finals campaign.

Makailah Dyer battled hard with 25 points and seven rebounds while hitting four three-pointers.

Bri Bailey added six points, Shenae Hartree four points and six rebounds, Jess Jakens four points and four boards, and Maddie Allen four points, seven rebounds and two assists.