NBL1 West Recap | Preliminary Finals

Huge shots from Willetton Tigers' Melisa Brcaninovic and Joondalup Wolves' Ioannis Dimakopoulos gave the Rockingham Flames a preliminary final horror show with the Cockburn Cougars women making history, and the Geraldton Buccaneers dominant to reach NBL1 West Grand Final.

The Grand Final spots in the NBL1 West went on the line with the Saturday night preliminary finals with the women's results seeing the Willetton Tigers beat the Rockingham Flames 81-78 and the Cockburn Cougars defeat the Mandurah Magic 88-75.

Then in the men's contests, the Joondalup Wolves shocked the Rockingham Flames 97-94 in overtime and the Geraldton Buccaneers won big 119-83 at home against the Perth Redbacks.

ROCKY START TURNS INTO BEST EVER DECISION FOR BRCANINOVIC

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WOMEN

Cougars make history with win over brave Magic

The Mandurah Magic kept fighting to the end but ultimately just didn’t have enough in the tank with the Cockburn Cougars continuing their best ever women's season to make history reaching the Grand Final.

Both teams are chasing a first women's championship but have had vastly different journeys to this point with the Cougars having never previously reached a Grand Final while the Magic had been there six times before but come up heartbreakingly short on each occasion.

Throw in that both teams had won against one another on their home floors this season, and it shaped as a fascinating preliminary final contest at a sold out Wally Hagan Stadium.

Cockburn had already made history ending the regular season in top spot for the first time and setting a new club record at 18-2 with a 90 per cent winning record before beating the Rockingham Flames in the qualifying final to remain home for Saturday night.

Mandurah, meanwhile, finished the regular season in sixth spot before beating the Perry Lakes Hawks in the elimination final last week and then the Joondalup Wolves in the semi-final on Thursday to set up the match up with Cockburn.

The Cougars didn’t waste time putting their stamp on the contest going on an 11-0 run during the first quarter to lead by as much as 15, and to still be on top 24-15 by the end of one.

And really, Cockburn was able to maintain that advantage virtually the rest of the way with Mandurah unable to get locked in on the Cougars like they did back on June 23 when they scored the 32-point win at home over the same opposition.

The Cougars would go on to lead by as much as 22 points in the second and 24 in the third. Mandurah never gave in, though, and you would expect nothing less from the team featuring the games record holder Casey Mihovilovich.

The Magic did get back as close as 10 with 1:45 to play in the game, but no closer and Cockburn prevailed 88-75 to advance to the first ever women's Grand Final on Friday night against the Willetton Tigers.

Sarah Mortensen continued her stunning form for the Cougars with another 30 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals on 10/19 shooting from the field and 9/9 at the charity stripe.

Steph Gorman added 19 points and three rebounds with the Perth Lynx WNBL signing shooting 6/11 from the field, 4/8 from downtown and 3/4 at the foul line.

Jewel Williams produced 19 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals, Jessie Edwards 10 points and 12 boards, and Patty Brossmann six points, eight rebounds and three assists.

It had been a brave performance from Mandurah just to reach the preliminary final with Casey Mihovilovich leading the charge in her 553rd game with 19 points, three assists and two rebounds while knocking down 5/10 from deep.

Sam Richards added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, Sarah Toeaina 13 points, six assists and three boards, Hannah Hank 13 points and five rebounds, and Kat Tudor eight points and five boards.

Tigers with miracle comeback over Flames

Willetton and Rockingham have combined to win eight championships since 2009 but only one of them would have the chance to add to that in 2023 with the Tigers prevailing in a heart stopper thanks to a huge late second chance shot from Melisa Brcaninovic.

The Tigers were home at Willetton Basketball Stadium and on a 12-game winning streak having ended the regular season with 11 straight wins to finish in second spot and then winning a rollercoaster of a qualifying final at home to the Joondalup Wolves.

The Flames might have lost their qualifying final to the Cockburn Cougars after finishing in fourth place, but hit back on Thursday night beating the defending champion Warwick Senators in emphatic fashion.

That set up a preliminary final that shaped as being a fascinating contest and it more than lived up to the billing.

Both teams had their turns in front in the first quarter but by quarter-time scores were all tied at 26-26.

Rockingham was feeling good, though, and began to pull away in the second quarter opening up an eight-point advantage but Willetton was able to hit back and by half-time had cut the Flames lead to 49-47.

Desiree Kelley ????? shooting from there ?

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Things remained tight in the third quarter with neither team leading by more than three points, but then all of a sudden the Flames opened the final stanza with three-point bombs from Casey Samuels and Mehryn Kraker.

That had Rockingham leading by six before the Tigers responded with a three-point play from Melisa Brcaninovic and then a bucket to Alex Sharp, but then Kraker hit another three-point dagger for Rockingham to keep her team up four.

Teyla Evans hit a triple with 3:30 to go to keep the Flames leading by five before Christina Boag scored inside to make it a seven-point ball game with 2:15 to go and Rockingham had at least one foot into the Grand Final.

Willetton had to find something special to pull the preliminary final out of the fire and that started a minute later with a strong drive and finish from Sophie Doran.

She converted that into a three-point play to make it a three-point game once more before Amy Jacobs hit two free-throws for the Tigers and then Willetton was able to force Rockingham into a shot clock violation.

It was then a frenetic final possession for Willetton with Brcaninovic forcing up a shot. Sharp's put back attempt wouldn’t go but then Brcaninovic collected the loose ball, chucked up the desperation mid-range jumper and it never looked like missing.

That put Willetton in front by one and when Desiree Kelley stripped Casey Samuels, the captain went on to make two free-throws with the Tigers prevailing 81-78 to reach another Grand Final in the most dramatic ways having been down six with just over a minute to play.

Melisa Brcaninovic might have had a tough shooting night going 6/19 but she made the biggest shot of the game when it mattered most on her way to 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Two-time MVP Alex Sharp added 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Willetton, Jess Jakens 15 points, nine boards and two steals, Amy Jacobs 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Desiree Kelley 11 points, 11 boards, six steals and four assists.

Mehryn Kraker ended the night with 26 points, four assists and three steals for Rockingham with Casey Samuels contributing 23 points, eight boards and there assists on shooting 5/11 from behind the three-point line.

Lisa Koop also had eight points and nine rebounds for the Flames, and Teyla Evans seven points, six boards, three steals and two blocked shots.

Melisa Brcaninovic scores the ??????? ?????? for Willetton ?

The Tigers are playing Grand Final hoops??

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MEN

Buccs keep dominating at home to reach Grand Final

The Geraldton Buccaneers once again showed just how unstoppable they are in their home fortress to reach another Grand Final on the back of beating the Perth Redbacks 119-83 in the preliminary final.

The Buccs had won all 11 matches at Active West Stadium this season leading into Saturday night's preliminary final by an average of 23.7 points so it was going to be a tall order for the Redbacks to break that trend with a Grand Final spot up for grabs.

The Redbacks had done a terrific job just to reach the preliminary final after finishing in fifth position before beating the Lakeside Lightning in an elimination final last week and then overcoming the Perry Lakes Hawks on Thursday night.

However, Geraldton was fresh, ready and waiting with the raucous sold out home crowd waiting to cheer their team into another Grand Final, and make life a misery for the visiting Redbacks.

That's exactly what ended up happening but Perth did well to keep pace with Geraldton in the first quarter. Both teams combined for 70 points with the Buccs leading 38-32 after one.

However, Geraldton could continue that way the rest of the night but Perth couldn’t with the Buccaneers adding another 28 points to 15 in the second stanza to head into half-time in control at 66-47.

The Buccs added another 27 points to 13 in the third quarter with the lead ballooning to 35 points, and then 37 in the fourth before they secured the 36-point victory.

The win means Geraldton reaches consecutive Grand Finals in an attempt now to win a first championship since 2019 – where ironically it was against this year's opponents the Joondalup Wolves.

Geraldton had no shortage of contributors to the win with Zac Gattorna putting up another 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while Johny Narkle added 20 points, five boards, two assists and two steals. 

Shaun Stewart also had 19 points, two rebounds and two assists, Malik Meunier 17 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals, Fletcher Klasztorny 13 points and nine boards, Aaron Ralph 12 points and four rebounds, and Liam Hunt seven points, six boards and four assists.

Redbacks captain Tevin Jackson top-scored for his team once more with 20 points and five rebounds with Bryton Hobbs adding 18 points, four assists, four steals and three boards, and Louis Timms 16 points and seven rebounds.

What was better from Johny Narkle, the steal or the buzzer shot? ?

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Dimakopoulos the unlikely hero as Wolves sink Flames

There has been significant periods during their championship defence that the Rockingham Flames have looked unstoppable in 2023, but the Joondalup Wolves arrived with a plan for Saturday's preliminary final and left with the remarkable 97-94 overtime triumph.

On the back of winning both the NBL1 West and National Championships last year, Rockingham started and finished the 2023 season on fire. 

The Flames won their first eight games and then responded to three consecutive losses by dominating the back end of the season with 11 consecutive victories before also then beating the Perry Lakes Hawks in the qualifying final to set up hosting Saturday's preliminary final at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Rockingham was awaiting its opponent and it turned out to be the sixth ranked Wolfpack who earned their way into the preliminary final with a win at home over the Warwick Senators and beating the Willetton Tigers on the road on Thursday night.

Smooth dime from Marshall Nelson ?

Who takes this in overtime? ?

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The Wolves then also regained point guard Bryan Michaels for Saturday night's contest but Rockingham took charge late in the opening quarter to lead 25-19 by quarter-time.

Rockingham extended that lead out to nine early in the second quarter with three free-throws to two-time MVP Devondrick Walker, but Joondalup was just warming to the task.

When Ioannis Dimakopoulos and Bryan Michaels landed three-pointers, the margin was back to three and the Wolfpack would complete a 14-0 run to open up their own eight-point lead, and go into half-time still leading 46-44.

The Wolves were just getting started and built up a lead as big as 14 points during the third period and even early in the fourth Quintin Dove extended the lead for the visitors back out to nine.

Rockingham, though, hit the next eight points capped off with a Ryan Godfrey three to make it a one-point game and with six minutes to play, Walker got going with a three of his own to tie scores up.

He made another soon after to put Rockingham in front but Michaels responded in kind for Joondalup. 

The big plays continued and Walker did put the Flames up by a point with a minute to play before Christian Jurlina made one at the line to level scores and that's where things stayed after a frantic final minute with the game going to overtime with a Grand Final spot on the line.

The drama was only just getting started and after Tom Jervis scored on a jumper to put Rockingham in front, Joondalup reeled off the next six points from CJ Turnage and Michaels to go up four with 2:30 on the clock.

Jervis brought the Flames back within two and then he scored on a putback with a minute to play to keep the Wolves lead at just one. Suddenly Walker knocked down a massive three and scores were tied once more.

Jervis was then able to deliver a huge block on Dove up the other end, but the offensive rebound ended up in the hands of the biggest man on the floor at the three-point line up top.

Dimakopoulos never hesitated and jacked up the shot and it was the biggest shot of his life when it fell to give the Wolves the eventual 97-94 win when the Flames couldn’t respond up the other end.

It's a remarkable result with Rockingham's season that at times looking unstoppable ending although they will still participate in the National Finals. Joondalup now has a chance to win a first championship since 2015 in what will be a fifth Grand Final appearance since.
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Quintin Dove continued his brilliant form for the Wolfpack with 27 points and 12 rebounds with CJ Turnage adding 20 points, 10 boards, four assists and two blocks, and Ioannis Dimakopoulos 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Bryan Michaels produced 16 points, five rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals for the Wolves, and Christian Jurlina nine points, five boards and five assists.

Dual MVP Devondrick Walker delivered 32 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks for Rockingham with Ryan Godfrey adding 18 points with 6/11 three-point shooting. 

Jeremy Combs also had 17 points and eight rebounds, Tom Jervis 15 points, eight boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks, and Marshall Nelson six points, five rebounds and five assists.

Ioannis Dimakopoulous HITS THE DAGGER ?

WHAT AN ENDING - JOONDALUP IS THROUGH TO THE NBL1 WEST GRAND FINAL ?

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