NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Round 1

What a first Saturday night of the NBL1 West season with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns women shocking the Warwick Senators, Cockburn Cougars men and women producing wildly contrasting showings, and Rockingham Flames and Perry Lakes Hawks men winning again.

Saturday night women's action saw the Kalamunda Eastern Suns shock the Warwick Senators 71-70 while the Mandurah Magic defeated the Goldfields Giants 78-57, the Cockburn Cougars thrashed the Willetton Tigers 97-55, the Joondalup Wolves downed the Rockingham Flames 87-77, and the Perry Lakes Hawks prevailed 88-70 against the Lakeside Lightning.

Then in the corresponding men's battles, Warwick beat Kalamunda 104-75, Goldfields defeated Mandurah 112-67, Willetton won big 111-69 against Cockburn, Rockingham downed Joondalup 120-107 and Perry Lakes defeated Lakeside 89-76.

The Geraldton Buccaneers also proved too strong at home for the South West Slammers, winning 106-45.

WOMEN

Suns shock Senators to snap 18-game league winning streak

The Warwick Senators hadn’t lost a game in the NBL1 West since May 7 last year, but that all changed in Saturday night's season-opener at the hands of the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

While the Senators finished last season winning 18 consecutive matches to win the NBL1 West championship and then go on to secure the National Championship, 2022 was a season to forget for the Eastern Suns with just the two victories.

Warwick finished last season 18-2 and Kalamunda 2-18, but that was flipped on Saturday night at Warwick Stadium with the Eastern Suns winning 71-70.

Kalamunda started strongly with 25 points to 18 in the first quarter and were able to then hold firm when the game was on the line in the fourth period to secure the one-point win.

Makailah Dyer is a significant addition for the Eastern Suns in 2023 and she delivered 23 points, five rebounds and five assists with Natalie Chou contributing 17 points, eight boards, five assists and three steals.

Fresh off an impressive WNBL season at the Perth Lynx, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard had 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Senators with Chloe Forster adding 14 points and 10 boards, Nicole Jorre de St Jorre 11 points, five assists and four steals, and Nat Burton 10 points and 16 rebounds.

Makailah Dyer is too tough ?

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Experienced Magic win in Kalgoorlie to open season

The experience of the Mandurah Magic was enough to guide them to a strong start to the season in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night, beating the Goldfields Giants 78-57.

Despite still awaiting the arrival of some key players, Mandurah proved too strong for Goldfields at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium cruising to the 21-point road win.

The Magic might have had an off-season from hell off the court, but there were no signs of any dramas on the court with Carly Boag delivering 18 points and 15 rebounds and 343-game veteran Rachel Halleen made 5/9 three-pointers for 17 points.

Sarah Toeaina added 14 points and 11 rebounds while the games record holder Casey Mihovilovich contributed strongly in game 532 with seven points and 10 assists.

Olivia Berry top-scored for the Giants with 18 points and three assists with Regan Turnour contributing 15 points, nine boards and four assists.

 

Cougars make statement with huge win over Tigers

The Cockburn Cougars made a statement to open the 2023 NBL1 West season with a 42-point hammering of last year's Grand Finalists, the Willetton Tigers at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Tigers beat the Cougars in last year's semi-final on their way to making the Grand Final, but Cockburn has come into 2023 on a mission to make up for bowing out in straight sets after last season's top four finish.

They couldn’t have made a bigger statement on opening night than beating the Tigers by 42 points including restricting Willetton to four points in the third quarter.

Jewel Williams starred for the Cougars with 25 points, four assists and three rebounds while Jessie Edwards contributed 16 points, six boards and three assists, Steph Gorman 17 points and nine rebounds, and Sarah Mortensen 11 points, 12 boards and five assists.

Willetton did beat Rockingham on Friday night, but couldn’t back it up 24 hours later despite Alex Sharp putting up another 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Desiree Kelley 18 points, 11 boards, five steals and three assists.

 

Hawks bounce back to beat Lightning

With both teams backing up from opening the season on Friday night, it was the Perry Lakes Hawks who proved too strong for the Lakeside Lightning, winning 88-70.

Perry Lakes lost a one-point thriller at home to East Perth on Friday while Lakeside won by six points over the Perth Redbacks, and now both teams are 1-1 after the first round of the 2023 season.

The Hawks started on fire with 29 points to 16 in the first quarter and remained in control of the contest from there to end up winning by 18.

Fresh off her WNBL season at the Sydney Flames, Emma Clarke returned to Perry Lakes and was brilliant with 28 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two steals on 11/21 shooting.

Maddie Dennis added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Hawks, Millie McCarthy 13 points and seven assists, and Mia Satie eight points and three rebounds.

Kylee Smith produced 19 points and eight rebounds for Lakeside, Caitie Jones 18 points and six boards, and Jade Gowland 17 points and eight rebounds.

Emma Clarke dominated ?

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MEN

Senators open up new season in style with big win

The Warwick Senators got their captain back and started the 2023 season in impressive style beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 104-75 at Warwick Stadium.

The Senators still made it all the way to the preliminary final last year before losing to eventual National Champions Rockingham, but they did that without captain Cody Ellis late in the season due to a knee injury.

He was back to lead his team on Saturday night and they were impressive starting with a bang with 37 points for the first quarter and to lead 68-27 by half-time before beating the Eastern Suns by 29.

Young guard Ethan Elliott is back from the Centre of Excellence and starred with 23 points and six assists while Ellis himself finished with 21 points while connecting on 4/7 from three-point range.

Caleb Davis added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.

It was a rough opening for Kalamunda under new coach Aaron Trahair with Joe Cook-Green top-scoring with 16 points and Reece Maxwell 15 to go with eight rebounds.

 

Big first up win for Giants under new coach

The Goldfields Giants have a new coach but took no time warming up in season 2023 with a strong 112-67 win in Kalgoorlie against the Mandurah Magic.

Both teams played finals in 2023 but have had an off-season of change with Scott Manton taking over as coach at the Giants and Mark Utley back at the helm of the Magic after quite the dramatic off-season off the court in Mandurah.

But on court on Saturday night and the Giants put up 29 points to 13 in the first quarter and remained in control from there including another 32 points to nine in the fourth quarter before winning by 45 points.

Michael Dupree top-scored for Goldfields with 19 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and three steals with Jerome Reid contributing 18 points, eight boards and five assists, and Majier Garang 15 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Kai Daniels finished with 14 points for Mandurah while former league MVP Ray Turner had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

 

Tigers hit back with hammering of Cougars

The Willetton Tigers bounced back from a first up loss to open the season to hammer the Cockburn Cougars 111-69 on Saturday night at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Willetton lost to Rockingham at home on Friday night, but hit back in dominant style against a Cockburn team surprisingly disappointing coming off a top four finish in 2023, and being at full strength.

There was plenty to like in the bounce back performance from Willetton with Gorjok Gak terrific with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals on 9/12 shooting.

He had plenty of help with seven players scoring in double-figures with Darnell Hoskins Jr adding 15 points and five rebounds, Damien Scott 14 points and six assists, Hunter Clarke 13 points, nine boards and five assists, Tom Gerovich 12 points and six rebounds, Josh Ibukunoluwa 12 points and six boards, and Mark Worthington 10 points and three rebounds.

Cockburn shot just 33.8 per cent from the field for the game and went 4/24 from deep with Josh Hunt finishing with 17 points and new import Taj Benning 15 while Luke Phillips had 13 points and nine rebounds.

 

Flames win at home in high-quality affair with Wolves

The defending champion Rockingham Flames are looking mighty impressive to open the 2023 season with Saturday night's 120-107 win at home against the Joondalup Wolves.

Both teams were top four finishers in 2022 and will be looking to be contenders once more, and while Rockingham won by 13 points on Saturday night, it was a high quality affair to do nothing to change the aspirations of both.

Rockingham already started its championship defence beating Willetton on Friday night and backed it up on Saturday at home with reigning MVP Devondrick Walker putting up another 35 points and five assists on 7/15 three-point shooting.

Marshall Nelson added 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Jeremy Combs 21 points, nine boards and six assists, and Ryan Godfrey 17 points and seven assists.

New Wolves signing Quintin Dove was impressive with 30 points and seven rebounds on 11/16 shooting with CJ Turnage adding 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Bryan Michaels 15 points, Mathiang Muo 13 points and four assists, Jordan Wellsteed 11 points, and Christian Jurlina 11 points.

 

Perry Lakes win again to make it a perfect opening weekend

The Perry Lakes Hawks made it two from two to open the new season with an 89-76 win on the road to the Lakeside Lightning.

Both teams opened the season on Friday night with Perry Lakes beating East Perth at home and Lakeside losing on the road to the Perth Redbacks, and the Hawks backed up their win with the 13-point victory.

Returning two-time championship winning point guard Mitch Clarke led impressively for Perry Lakes with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Ben Purser added 17 points and seven rebounds, Matt Leary 13 points and four boards, and Daniel Alexander 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks against the team he made two All-First Teams playing with.

Dom Jackson finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for Lakeside while Tom Parkinson contributed 14 points and seven boards, Josh Davey 12 points and four rebounds, Nick Palleschi 11 points, three assists and three steals, and Kyle Armour 10 points and six assists.

 

Buccs make quite the statement to open 2023

If the Geraldton Buccaneers wanted to signal their intentions for 2023, they couldn’t have done so more emphatically than Saturday night's season opening 106-45 win against the South West Slammers.

On the back of losing last year's Grand Final to Rockingham, Geraldton is clearly motivated to go one step better this season as they put on a show at Active West Stadium beating the Slammers by 61 points.

Aaron Ralph made a spectacular return for the Buccs after missing all of 2022 through injury. The 411-game championship winning veteran hit four three-pointers on his way to 18 points and nine rebounds.

Johny Narkle added 18 points and six steals, Sydney Kings championship winner Zac Gattorna 17 points and six rebounds, Malik Meunier 12 points and 10 assists, Shaun Stewart 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Liam Hunt 10 points and eight boards.

It was a rude shock to start to the season for the Slammers with Manyiel Wugol top-scoring with 17 points and four rebounds. 

GET OUT OF ZAC GATTORNA'S WAY ?

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