NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Men's Round 1

The first Saturday night of the NBL1 West Men's season produced some standout performances in wins for the Goldfields Giants, Geraldton Buccaneers, Rockingham Flames and Joondalup Wolves.

The NBL1 West Men's season got underway on Friday night for 2022 with the Cockburn Cougars impressing on their home floor beating the East Perth Eagles 98-54.

The Perry Lakes Hawks also hung on in a tight one against the Warwick Senators to win 93-91 while the Perth Redbacks looked good in their 85-52 victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

Then on Saturday night, the Goldfields Giants opened up the new season with an impressive performance at home in Kalgoorlie at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium 90-74.

Jesse Ghee led the way for the Giants with 27 points and seven assists with Mayo Malek adding 19 points, eight boards and four blocks. Josh Davey top-scored for Lakeside with 16 points and seven rebounds.

The Geraldton Buccaneers started their season on the road at Eaton Recreation Centre but came away with a strong 94-62 victory against the South West Slammers.

Cameron Coleman was impressive for the Buccs with 28 points while Shaun Stewart put up 20 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists. Brody England had 18 points for the Slammers.

The Joondalup Wolves then came from behind at three quarter-time to beat the Willetton Tigers 75-66 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

CJ Turnage marked his NBL1 West debut with 22 points and seven assists for the Wolfpack with Jonathan Wade adding 20 points and seven rebounds. Andrew Black finished with 21 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers.

Last up on Saturday night was the Rockingham Flames defeating the Mandurah Magic 90-84 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Former Redback Marshall Nelson produced 30 points on debut for the Flames with former South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL import Devondrick Walker scoring 21 points. Tom Jervis also had 18 points and 14 rebounds with Ray Turner delivering 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Magic.

Now Round 1 in the NBL1 West Men's season concludes on Sunday afternoon with the Mandurah Magic hosting the Geraldton Buccaneers at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre at midday.

Then at 2pm, it's the Perth Redbacks taking on the South West Slammers at Belmont Oasis.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 1 – SATURDAY NIGHT

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 90 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 74

The Saturday night action began in Kalgoorlie at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium with the Goldfields Giants and Lakeside Lightning locking horns to open up their seasons.

It's been an off-season of change for both clubs with the Giants still under the tutelage of coach Wayne Creek but their playing stocks have significantly changed and on Saturday night, Jesse Ghee, Gairges Daow and Hussayn Ford made their debuts, and Mayo Malek marked his return.

To say there's been great change at Lakeside, meanwhile, would be a great understatement. They parted company with coach Dave Daniels with the experienced David Lindstrom now in charge while Kyle Armour, Jay Bowie and Jack Isenbarger are among the key players to have moved on.

That meant it was a decidedly new-look Lightning team out on the court for the Lightning and while they will still be a work in progress as the season progresses, the Giants would have liked the way they opened the season with the eventual 90-74 victory.

It was a tight affair throughout the first half with scores tied after the first quarter with both teams putting up 26 points apiece and then it was just a one-point lead at 43-42 for the Giants heading into the half-time break.

It was still a close contest by three quarter-time too with Goldfields only leading by a point, but the Giants dominated the fourth quarter with 24 points to just nine from the Lightning to end up winning by 16.

Jesse Ghee made an impressive first up appearance for the Giants made up of 27 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Mayo Malek marked his return to Goldfields impressively too with 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots with Jerome Reid contributing 16 points, four assists and three boards.

Hussayn Ford added 12 points and 14 rebounds while Damon Ballantyne finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.

Josh Davey started the new season off well for Lakeside with 16 points and seven rebounds while Nick Palleschi finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, Dominic Jackson 11 points, Liam Patterson 10 points and three assists, and Majier Garang 10 points and 12 rebounds against his former team on his old home floor.

 

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 62 lost to GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 94

The Geraldton Buccaneers are looking for a bounce back season in 2022 and they signalled those intentions with a first up impressive road win over the South West Slammers on Saturday night.

The Buccs broke through to win a long sought after championship in 2019 but the last two years have been challenging with them decimated both by injuries and the troubles that the COVID global pandemic have caused.

However, Geraldton has had a strong looking off-season not only retaining inspirational captain Mat Wundenberg and welcoming back Grand Final MVP Liam Hunt from what appeared a career-ending injury, but they've recruited well.

The Buccs have welcomed former Mandurah Magic import Shaun Stewart along with new import Cameron Coleman and bringing in former Kalamunda forward Ryan Blanchett.

They have retained the services of Mathiang Muo as well so there is plenty there for championship winning coach Dayle Joseph to work with, and they put it on show to open the season against the Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night.

The Slammers will be trying to find their feet throughout this season under the coaching of Shane Goff, but the Buccaneers made the trip south to make the statement on Saturday night and they did that from the outset.

Geraldton put up 25 points in the opening quarter and led by as much as 19 in the first half on the way to leading 49-32 by half-time.

The Buccs continued on with the job in the second half with another 45 points to 30 from the Slammers to end up winning by 32 to open their road double to start the 2022 season.

Aside from only shooting the three ball at 4/26, there was a lot to like about what Geraldton did with 58 rebounds to 34 and despite going at 15 per cent from deep, overall they shot 49 per cent from the field.

Cameron Coleman made a significant impact first up for the Buccaneers with 28 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals on 13/19 shooting from the field and 2/4 from downtown.

Shaun Stewart also finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Mathiang Muo 11 points and six rebounds, Fletcher Klasztorny nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Malik Meunier nine points, three boards and three assists.

Brody England will be looking to take the next step with his game this season for the Slammers and started well on Saturday night with 18 points, three rebounds and two steals.

Cody Hill also had 11 points and two steals, Tanner Vogel 10 points and two steals, Caleb Van De Griend nine points and 13 rebounds, and Lochlann Simpson seven points and eight boards.

 

WILLETTON TIGERS 66 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 75

Two teams with high expectations as well for 2022 locked horns at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night with the Joondalup Wolves finishing strongly to beat the Willetton Tigers.

Willetton made a surprise finals exits after a home semi-final loss to the Perth Redbacks last year while it was a rare season of not reaching the playoffs for the Wolves.

The Tigers have been able to retain much of that playing group under Coach of the Year Adam Nener while there's great change at the Wolves with new coach David Morrell heading west to take over.

There's no longer Seb Salinas, Rob Huntington or Reece Maxwell at the Wolfpack either so it's very much the beginning of a new era, and they started well with the way they performed on Saturday night on the road.

The Tigers were able to take a two-point lead into quarter-time but the Wolves turned things around with 21 points to 17 in the second period to narrowly hold a 36-34 advantage at the major break.

Willetton pulled away a little in the third quarter with 20 points to 14 and that saw the home team lead 54-50 going into three quarter-time.

However, it was all the Wolfpack in the fourth quarter. They put up 25 points and held the Tigers to just 12 to end up recording the 75-66 win to start the season under new coach Morrell.

CJ Turnage built himself a good career since coming down under in South Australia but has made the move west in 2022 and started impressively for Joondalup with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Jonathan Wade is at the Wolves for a second season and had 20 points and seven rebounds including hitting 3/5 from downtown.

Joel Vaiangina added nine points and three rebounds for the Wolfpack, Tom Parkinson eight points and six boards, Mitch Newton seven points and three rebounds, and Julian Pesava six points and six boards.

The Tigers still have some key players to welcome back as the season unfolds but on the opening night, captain Andrew Black delivered 21 points, seven assists, two assists and two steals.

Hunter Clarke added 15 points and three rebounds for Willetton, Lachlan Evans 11 points, and Connor Mincherton eight points, seven assists and four rebounds. 

 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 90 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 84

The Rockingham Flames and Mandurah Magic have stocked up big over the off-season so it was an exciting way for the 2022 season to open up on Saturday night with them doing battle.

The Flames were at home at Mike Barnett Sports Complex to open the new season and on hand were their pair of Perth Wildcats NBL championship winners Tom Jervis and Greg Hire along with inspirational captain Ryan Godfrey.

Then from the Grand Final team of last year, they have added Marshall Nelson from the Perth Redbacks fresh off an NBL stint with the Cairns Taipans and then there was the debut of former South East Melbourne Phoenix import Devondrick Walker.

While head coach Ryan Petrik wasn’t there as he was on duties in the WNBL Grand Final with the Perth Lynx, Mandurah was on hand to try and come to Rockingham to spoil the party.

The Magic pulled off the massive coup last season bringing in Scott Machado to lead to their return to the playoffs, but they are looking to build on that in 2022 highlighted by the additions of Ray Turner, Jay Bowie and Kyle Armour along with former Taipan Christian Jurlina and new import Dequan Abrom.

So that all set the stage for a fascinating season opener for both teams but neither was able to get going in the first quarter as they put up just the 13 points apiece.

Rockingham was able to get going first and put up 25 points in the second period to head into the half-time break leading 38-32.

The Flames kept that roll going in the third quarter with another 26 points to 19 to lead 64-51, but the Magic still made a charge in the fourth. They were able to get it back to a four-point ball game but the Flames did enough to hold on for the six-point victory.

There wasn’t a whole lot between the teams in terms of shooting but Rockingham did pull down 53 rebounds opposed to 44 from Mandurah while the Flames involved one another better with 15 assists to just seven from the Magic.

Marshall Nelson is coming off playing some important minutes at the Cairns Taipans in the NBL this season as an injury replacement player. He has joined Rockingham in 2022 and started brilliantly with 30 points, three rebounds and three assists including hitting 4/8 from beyond the arc.

Devondrick Walker is a huge signing for Rockingham too and he put up 21 points, six rebounds and three assists with Tom Jervis still showing he has plenty left to offer with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Greg Hire pulled down 13 rebounds to go with six points and four assists as well for the Flames.

Ray Turner put up 17 points and 17 rebounds in his first game with the Magic while Jay Bowie added 15 points and four rebounds, Dequan Abrom 13 points and five boards, Riley Parker 15 points, and Kyle Armour nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.