NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Men's Preliminary Finals

A tantalising Grand Final now awaits in the inaugural NBL1 West Men's Division season with the Perry Lakes Hawks looking to further cement their legacy as the most successful club up against the Rockingham Flames looking to make history.

The Hawks were the most successful club in the SBL winning six championships in nine Grand Final appearances from 1989. 

Now they have started the NBL1 West competition by finishing the regular season on top of the table and have booked their place in the Grand Final with impressive playoff wins against the Flames and Perth Redbacks the past two Saturday nights.

Their opponents will be a Rockingham Flames team not lacking in NBL championship experience in the form of Greg Hire and Tom Jervis, but who will be looking for a first SBL/NBL1 Men's championship in a maiden Grand Final appearance after a preliminary final win on the road to the Lakeside Lightning.

The first ever NBL1 West finals series began last weekend and on Friday night, the Lakeside Lightning beat the Willetton Tigers 95-92 in a qualifying final and the Mandurah Magic made history beating the Cockburn Cougars 63-62 in an elimination final.

Then last Saturday evening, the Perth Redbacks defeated the Warwick Senators 111-88 in an elimination final and the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Rockingham Flames 90-75 in what turns out to be a Grand Final preview.

This Friday night saw the two losers from the qualifying finals plays hosts to the semi finals with the Rockingham Flames bouncing back to beat the Mandurah Magic 99-76 while the Perth Redbacks overcame the Willetton Tigers 92-90.

That set the stage for two tantalising preliminary match ups on Saturday night to determine the Grand Final combatants for the first ever NBL1 West Grand Final.

The Rockingham Flames made history by qualifying for their first Men's Grand Final by defeating the Lakeside Lightning 88-72 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Tom Jervis was a dominant presence for Rockingham with 21 points and 14 rebounds while Travis Durnin added 18 points and Atem Bior 15. Jay Bowie put up 23 points for Lakeside, Kyle Armour 16 and Jack Isenbarger 15. Jarrad Prue pulled down a trademark 18 rebounds in his 400th game.

Then at Bendat Basketball Centre, the Perry Lakes Hawks had to come from behind but produced a dominant second half to overcome the Perth Redbacks 92-77.

Andrew Ferguson put up 25 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks with point guard Mitch Clarke outstanding with 22 points and eight assists. Tevin Jackson had 18 points for the Redbacks, Marshall Nelson 17, Zac Gattorna 16 and Louis Timms 15.

PRELIMINARY FINALS
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 72 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 88

The Lakeside Lightning and Rockingham Flames both built teams ready for success this NBL1 West season so the stakes couldn’t have been higher in Saturday night's preliminary final.

With expectations high on both teams for what they were expecting to be able to achieve in 2021, it was quite the set up for Saturday's contest at Lakeside Recreation Centre with a spot in the Grand Final on the line.

Lakeside welcomed back the legend himself Jarrad Prue to celebrate his 400th game with the all-time leading rebounder strengthening the Lightning front court with their back court of Kyle Armour, Jay Bowie and Jack Isenbarger their undoubted weapon.

However, Rowan Mackenzie has been a breakout star this season with the Lightning but he has departed early to return to college and with Perth Wildcats development player Corey Shervill out injured, the Lightning were a little down on firepower.

However, they had done well to overcome the Willetton Tigers in the qualifying final the week before to earn home court advantage in Saturday's preliminary final.

Meanwhile at Rockingham, they have a team with seven NBL championship rings between Greg Hire and Tom Jervis while coach Ryan Petrik took the Flames women to two championships.

Add in the experience of Ryan Godfrey and it's anything but an inexperienced Rockingham line-up even if they had yet to reach a Grand Final in the Men's competition.

Rockingham lost last Saturday to the Perry Lakes Hawks but bounced back to hammer the Mandurah Magic on Friday night to book in their clash with the Lightning for a chance to win into the Grand Final.

With so much at stake and with both teams so evenly matched, well coached and with not being willing to accept not reaching a Grand Final, it was quite the fascinating contest all evening played in front of a brilliant atmosphere provided by both supporter bases.

The Lightning started strongly and led 16-6 early on the back of a pair of three balls to Ben Lee and another to Jack Isenbarger. However, the Flames fought back well late in the first term and by quarter-time, scores were locked at 20-20.

Lakeside went up six early in the second period but again Rockingham fought back and it was the Flames leading narrowly 43-42 going into half-time.

Things remained tight by three quarter-time with Rockingham only up by a point, but the Flames would take over in the fourth quarter in impressive fashion.

Things got rolling thanks to a three-point play from Atem Bior before Tom Jervis made a couple of huge buckets. Travis Durnin and Greg Hire soon did the same and all of a sudden the Flames were leading by double-figures.

Rockingham sealed the deal to come away with the 88-72 win sending their travelling fans into raptures as they now prepare for a first Men's Grand Final to try and match their Women who have three championships already to their credit.

Tom Jervis was a dominant force inside for the Flames finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals as he tries to win a second championship to go with his triumph at East Perth in 2014.

Travis Durnin also put up 18 points for Rockingham, Atem Bior 15 points and five rebounds, Cirkook Makuac Riak nine points and three boards, and Greg Hire eight points, five rebounds and two assists as he now tries to add to his 2011 championship where he was Grand Final MVP with the Wolves.

Jay Bowie top-scored in the end for Lakeside with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists while Kyle Armour finished with 16 points and five assists, Jack Isenbarger 15 points and three assists, and Ben Lee 12 points and three assists.

 

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 92 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 77

The Perry Lakes Hawks were the standout team of the NBL1 West regular season but the Perth Redbacks had saved their best for the finals setting up a fascinating preliminary final match up on Saturday night.

Coming off winning a championship in 2018, making the Grand Final in 2020 and the semi finals again in 2019, Perry Lakes have again delivered a standout 2021 season in the inaugural NBL1 West competition.

They finished the regular season a game clear on top of the table before an impressive 90-75 qualifying win over the Rockingham Flames in what turned out being a Grand Final preview.

The challenge in Saturday's preliminary final at Bendat Basketball Centre was a Redbacks team who had a rollercoaster ride of a regular season, but with a hugely talented and experienced starting five, coach CJ Jackson unlocked their best form to open the finals series.

The Redbacks were impressive to beat the Warwick Senators 111-88 last Saturday night and backed it up on Friday to eliminate the third ranked Willetton Tigers with a 92-90 win at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Perth was impressive in beating Willetton but at the same time, Zac Gattorna, Marshall Nelson and Tevin Jackson all played 37 minutes plus, Louis Timms 32 and Joel Wagner 28.

So finding the energy to take it up to the Hawks who were fresh and also the deepest team in the competition was going to be a test, but the Redbacks sure came out on fire continuing their momentum from the wins over the Senators and Tigers.

The Redbacks had managed to open up a 26-22 lead by quarter-time before a pair of triples to Marshall Nelson and Zac Gattorna saw them up seven early in the second and Hawks coach Matt Parsons went to a quick timeout.

Tevin Jackson then came out and made the lead nine with that advantage growing to 11 soon after with a Louis Timms three-pointer. Mitch Clarke connected with a three just before half-time, though, and Perry Lakes had done well to limit Perth's lead to 50-45.

The game then underwent a remarkable transformation in the second half.

For the opening 10 quarters of their finals run, the Redbacks played as a tremendous cohesive unit who picked and chose their moments to attack the basket, and settle for jump shots and it was working a treat.

However, once Perry Lakes upped the ante in the second half and started to apply some scoreboard pressure as well by turning an 11-point deficit into a lead of their own, and the Redbacks went right away from what had been working so well.

Suddenly the talented individuals on the Redbacks team tried to do too much themselves and forgot about working as a team. They were taking bad shots, attacking the basket in out of control fashion and Perry Lakes deserve the credit for making that happen.

The Hawks took full control as a result with 29 points to 10 in the third quarter, and then ending up cruising to the 92-77 victory to advance to their 10th Grand Final where they will attempt to win a seventh championship.

Runner-up league MVP Andrew Ferguson had a tremendous game for the Hawks with 25 points, nine rebounds and three assists on shooting 10/15 from the field.

Mitch Clarke was outstanding as point for Perry Lakes with 22 points, eight assists and four steals while Lewis Thomas contributed 13 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Co-captain and Perry Lakes games record holder Ben Purser put up 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks with Ryan Smith adding 10 points and four boards, and Matt Leary six points.

In all honesty, the Redbacks ran out of gas after two outstanding performances and then throwing everything into the first half against the Hawks.

Tevin Jackson finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, Marshall Nelson 17 points, eight boards and seven assists, Zac Gattorna 16 points and four rebounds, Louis Timms 15 points and seven boards, and Joel Wagner seven points and six assists.

NBL1 WEST MEN'S DIVISION 2021

FINALS WEEK 1
FRIDAY – QUALIFYING FINAL
Lakeside Lightning 95 defeated Willetton Tigers 92

FRIDAY – ELIMINATION FINAL
Mandurah Magic 63 defeated Cockburn Cougars 62

SATURDAY – ELIMINATION FINAL
Warwick Senators 88 lost to Perth Redbacks 111

SATURDAY – QUALIFYING FINAL
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 defeated Rockingham Flames 75

FINALS WEEK 2
FRIDAY – SEMI FINALS
Rockingham Flames 99 defeated Mandurah Magic 76
Willetton Tigers 90 lost to Perth Redbacks 92

SATURDAY – PRELIMINARY FINALS
Lakeside Lightning 72 lost to Rockingham Flames 88
Perry Lakes Hawks 92 defeated Perth Redbacks 77

FINALS WEEK 3
SATURDAY – GRAND FINAL
Rockingham Flames v Perry Lakes Hawks – Bendat Basketball Centre 7pm0