NBL1 West Recap | Men's Saturday Round 6

Two on fire teams took part in a Saturday night thriller in Round 6 of the NBL1 West Men's competition and it was a Johny Narkle three ball that sealed the win for the undefeated Geraldton Buccaneers over the Rockingham Flames.

That was just one of the five matches on Saturday night in the NBL1 West action with the Joondalup Wolves, Mandurah Magic, Perth Redbacks and Goldfields Giants all recording impressive victories.

Round 6 in the NBL1 West Women's season got underway with two matches on Friday night with the Lakeside Lightning scoring their first win of 2022 in a heart stopping 82-81 win against the East Perth Eagles.

The Willetton Tigers also finished strongly to knock off the defending champion Perry Lakes Hawks 78-69 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

There were then five more Round 6 matches on Saturday evening starting at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre with the Mandurah Magic continuing to build some momentum beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 110-95.

Jay Bowie scored 23 points for Mandurah, Ray Turner 21 and Dequan Abrom 20 with Cooper Lowe delivering 16 points for Kalamunda in game No. 101.

The Perth Redbacks are starting to come together nicely this season too with an 87-75 victory against the Cockburn Cougars at Belmont Oasis on Saturday night.

Jerami Grace scored 29 points and Zac Gattorna 22 while Joel Wagner dished out another 11 dimes with Carter Skaggs scoring 20 points for Cockburn.

The thriller of the night took place at Active West Stadium with Johny Narkle delivering the clutch three-pointer to keep the Geraldton Buccaneers undefeated with the 88-86 win at home over the Rockingham Flames.

Shaun Stewart put up 24 points and six assists for the Buccs and Cameron Coleman 20 points with Devondrick Walker again brilliant with 37 points including seven triples for Rockingham.

It was another big win for the Joondalup Wolves as they kept the South West Slammers winless with the 120-67 victory at HBF Arena. CJ Turnage put up 22 points and seven assists for the Wolfpack and Julian Pesava 20 points with Caleb Van De Griend scoring 20 points for the Slammers.

The Goldfields Giants were then impressive on their home floor in Kalgoorlie beating the Warwick Senators 91-78 with Gairges Daow outstanding with 28 points while Jesse Ghee added 22. Cody Ellis put up 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Senators.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 6 – SATURDAY NIGHT

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 88 defeated ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 86

They are two of the hottest teams in the NBL1 West competition, are full of star power and the Geraldton Buccaneers and Rockingham Flames put on quite the show on Saturday night.

The Buccs were back on their home floor at Active West Stadium attempting to remain undefeated this season but it was going t be a significant test against Rockingham even if they were without Tom Jervis.

Geraldton started well on their home floor to lead 26-21 by quarter-time before another 21 points to 16 in the second period to go into the half-time break leading 47-37.

Rockingham, though, hit back with 22 points to 19 in the third quarter and it was then a three-point bomb from Devondrick Walker that put the Flames on top at 74-73 with six minutes on the clock.

The big shots from both teams continued with Johny Narkle and Walker trading triples and scores were still all level with just under three minutes remaining following a Greg Hire free-throw.

The biggest shot of the game then came courtesy of Narkle, who has made the decision to refocus on his basketball career in Geraldton this year after flirting with playing Aussie Rules. 

He hit the biggest shot of his career to date to give the Buccs the three-point lead before Cameron Coleman sealed the deal for the eventual 88-86 win despite another late three ball from Rockingham from Walker.

The win improves the Buccaneers to a perfect 7-0 record on the season while the Flames are now 5-2 in fourth position.

Along with hitting the game clinching shot, Johny Narkle put up 16 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and two assists for Geraldton in the best performance of his burgeoning career.

Shaun Stewart also produced another 24 points and six assists for the Buccs, Cameron Coleman 20 points and three assists, Liam Hunt 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Mathiang Muo nine points, five boards, two assists and two steals.

Devondrick Walker delivered another superb performance for Rockingham with 37 points, six rebounds and three steals while hitting 7/15 from beyond the arc.

Marshall Nelson added 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Ryan Godfrey 10 points and three assists, Travis Durnin eight points and seven rebounds, and Greg Hire seven points, 14 boards and seven assists.

 

JOONDALUP WOLVES 120 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 67

The Joondalup Wolves proved too strong for the South West Slammers cruising to a 120-67 win at HBF Arena on Saturday night.

The Slammers made the trip to Joondalup still hunting their first win of the 2022 NBL1 West Men's season but with the Wolves putting up 37 first quarter points, that was always going to be an unlikely exercise from there.

The Wolfpack added another 30 points to 19 in the second period to head into the half-time break leading 67-40.

While they couldn’t quite maintain that offensive pace in the second half, Joondalup still outscored South West 53 points to 27 in the second half on the way to the eventual 53-point win to improve to 5-1 on the season while the Slammers slip to 0-8.

The Wolves pulled in 47 rebounds opposed to 31 from the Slammers while they also forced South West into 30 turnovers.

Joondalup shot 55.1 per cent from the field too with CJ Turnage showing the way with 22 points, seven assists, five steals and three rebounds, and Julian Pesava 20 points and five boards.

Joel Vaiangina added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Wolfpack, Maris Colton 13 points and seven boards, Jordan Wellsteed 11 points and three steals, and Mitch Newton 11 points and four rebounds.

Tom Parkinson also stood tall for seven points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals in his first season with Joondalup after a standout Lakeside career.

Caleb Van De Griend top-scored for the Slammers with 20 points and eight rebounds with Tanner Vogel contributing 16 points and seven boards, and Cory Richardson eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

 

MANDURAH MAGIC 110 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 95

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns were coming off their first win of the season last Sunday but the Mandurah Magic proved too strong on Saturday night in Mandurah.

The Magic are now building some impressive momentum with a strong roster assembled under coach Aaron Trahair and continued that on against the Eastern Suns on Saturday night at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Suns had defeated the East Perth Eagles the previous Sunday to break their duck on the season but Mandurah in Mandurah was a different challenge with the Magic opening up a 10-point advantage by the end of the first quarter.

Mandurah was able to extend its lead to 53-40 by half-time and while they did end up winning the 110-95, it was a competitive showing from the Eastern Suns to not get blown away by a supremely talented team on their home floor.

The 15-point win improves the Magic to a 5-2 record on the season while the Eastern Suns are now 1-7.

Despite the 41 combined turnovers between the two teams, it was a high quality shooting display with the Magic going at 56.8 per cent from the floor and 12/20 from three-point land, and the Eastern Suns 50.7 per cent from the field and 7/22 from the land of plenty.

Jay Bowie put up 23 points on 9/13 shooting with 3/6 from downtown for Mandurah with Ray Turner contributing 21 points and six boards, and Riley Parker 16 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Dequan Abrom added 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, Kyle Armour 12 points and 12 assists, and Byron Pearson 11 points, three steals and two boards.

In his 101st game for the Eastern Suns, Cooper Lowe again delivered an impressive performance with 16 points on a perfect 6/6 shooting from the field and 4/4 at the foul line.

Xavier Shaw also delivered 12 points and six rebounds, Carl Aylett 11 points and five assists, Reece Maxwell eight points and four rebounds, Rob Huntington eight points and four boards, and Tom Atkinson eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

 

PERTH REDBACKS 87 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 75

The Perth Redbacks continue to build some impressive momentum early this NBL1 West season on the back of a strong win against the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday night.

The Redbacks were at home at Belmont Oasis to the Cougars on Saturday and produced another commanding performance to improve to 4-3 on the season while Cockburn have now lost three in-a-row after opening up the 2022 season winning four consecutive matches.

Cockburn was attempting to stop its run of losing two consecutive matches, but it was Perth who started well to lead 30-23 by quarter-time.

However, the Cougars fired back impressively in the second term with 26 points to 14 and that meant the went into half-time leading 49-44.

The Redbacks came out an inspired outfit from half-time, though, and put up 28 points to 12 in the third quarter, and then closed the deal in the fourth period to end up winning 87-75.

Perth won the game despite losing the rebound count by eight but they shot an impressive 50.0 per cent from the field and went 9/22 from downtown while the Cougars went just 38.4 per cent from the floor and 10/29 from three-point range.

Jerami Grace played his best game of the season for the Redbacks after making the move from Mandurah. He finished the evening with 29 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists while knocking down 7/11 from beyond the three-point line.

Zac Gattorna added 22 points and five rebounds for Perth, Tevin Jackson 18 points, six boards, six assists and five steals, and Louis Timms 11 points and three rebounds.

Carter Skaggs top-scored for the Cougars with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three steals while hitting 4/11 from three-point land with Paschal Chukwu adding 14 points and 13 boards, Josh Hunt 11 points and six rebounds, and Seva Chan 11 points and six boards.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 91 defeated WARWICK SENATORS 78

Two of the more impressive teams so far this NBL1 West season locked horns in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night with the Goldfields Giants hosting the Warwick Senators.

The Senators started well on the road even without Caleb Davis and Ash Litterick. Captain Cody Ellis scored their first five points and they started impressively but by quarter-time it was Goldfields on top 27-23.

Warwick had closed the gap by half-time and it was a one-point ball game at the main break.

The Giants were able to do enough to get the job done in the second half, though, with 23 points to 15 in the third quarter, and then 24 to 20 in the fourth to end up recording the 91-78 victory.

The result improves Goldfields to a 4-2 record on the season while the Senators are now also 4-2 at the end of six rounds of the 2022 NBL1 West Men's season.

It was a hot shooting night from the Giants who went 55.6 per cent from the field opposed to the 39.0 per cent from the Senators.

Gairges Daow ended up top-scoring in an impressive display for the Giants with 28 points and four rebounds while shooting 11/19 from the floor and 3/6 from downtown.

Jesse Ghee added 22 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals for Goldfields, Lafonzo Smith 13 points and five rebounds, Hussayn Ford eight points and 12 boards, and Hamish Cummings eight points and four assists.

Cody Ellis ended up top-scoring for the Senators with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists with Bryan Michaels contributing 18 points, and Kyle Zunic 17 points, seven boards and three assists.