NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Round 8

There was a pair of NBL1 West wins for the Joondalup Wolves over the Warwick Senators on Saturday night while Emma Clarke dominated for the Perry Lakes Hawks, the Mandurah Magic won in Rachel Halleen's 350th game, and Geraldton Buccaneers won a stunning Grand Final rematch.

Round 8 women's NBL1 West action saw the Lakeside Lightning beat the South West Slammers 94-50, the Mandurah Magic defeat the Willetton Tigers 80-73, the Joondalup Wolves down the Warwick Senators 79-68, the East Perth Eagles prevail 81-55 against the Goldfields Giants, and the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 82-64.

The men's action began with a Grand Final rematch with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Rockingham Flames 92-91. The Lightning then also beat the Slammers 87-74 while the Tigers defeated the Magic 108-106, the Wolves downed the Senators 107-77, the Giants beat the Eagles 93-87, and the Hawks defeated the Eastern Suns 96-86.

WOMEN

Clarke catches fire as Hawks keep winning run going

The Perry Lakes Hawks kept their hot form going with a fast start setting up an eventual 82-64 home victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

Perry Lakes came into the clash at Bendat Basketball Centre on a four-game winning streak including a stunning win on the buzzer thanks to Ash Isenbarger last Saturday night against the Warwick Senators.

That left it a big job for a Kalamunda team on a four-game losing slide and the Hawks didn’t waste time asserting their authority putting up 33 points to 16 with Perry Lakes coach Craig Mansfield against the team he has coached in two stints.

The Hawks added another 26 points to 16 in the second term to have a dominant 59-32 lead by half-time. Perry Lakes went on to win by 18 points from there to improve to 8-3 on the season with five straight victories.

The Eastern Suns have lost five in-a-row now too to slip to 3-6.

Emma Clarke was a dominant force for the Hawks with 33 points, 15 rebounds and four assists on 7/8 shooting from three-point range.

Nici Gilday added 16 points and six assists for Perry Lakes, Mia Satie 11 points and seven rebounds, Maddy Dennis 11 points, four assists and four blocks, and Ash Isenbarger six points and 10 rebounds.

Makailah Dyer top-scored for Kalamunda with 21 points and seven rebounds with Sam Roscoe adding 17 points, seven boards, six steals and two blocks, and Natalie Chou 11 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Eagles build confidence with win over Giants

The East Perth Eagles made it consecutive wins for the first time this season after a dominant 81-55 win over the increasingly youthful and shorthanded Goldfields Giants.

The Eagles were fresh off beating the South West Slammers by 22 points last Saturday night ahead of hosting a Giants team still minus key players Amanda Wayment, Olivia Berry, Rachel Kehoe and with Lawrin Tipene not hitting the floor.

East Perth took full advantage as they build some momentum with coach Craig Allen in his first season in charge. The Eagles led by five points at quarter-time before stretching the advantage to nine at half-time, 14 at three quarter-time and 26 by the final buzzer.

East Perth improves to a 4-6 record with the win ahead of facing the unbeaten Cockburn Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium on Sunday with the Giants now 2-7 ahead of playing the Willetton Tigers on Sunday too.

Madison Torresin produced her best performance of the season for the Eagles with 25 points, 16 rebounds and three steals with Sylwia Bujnak adding 19 points, four boards, four assists and three steals.

Maddie Allen also had 12 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks and four assists, Tessa Morrison 11 points, seven boards and two assists, and Sarah Allen 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

The shorthanded Goldfields fought as hard as they could with Regan Turnour-McCarty again top-scoring with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Aimee Borchet added 14 points and nine rebounds, Ash Sidebottom eight points and four boards, and Ashlee Monaghan five points, 14 rebounds and two assists.

Wolves hand reigning champs consecutive losses

The Joondalup Wolves delivered a dominant fourth quarter to handed the defending champion Warwick Senators consecutive defeats with the 79-68 win at Warwick Stadium.

It was the Battle of Joondalup on Saturday night with the two local rivals who both finished last year's regular season in top two positions meeting for the first time in 2023.

The Wolfpack made a flying start with a 10-0 run early before the Senators scored nine straight points of their own to cut the Joondalup lead to three by quarter-time.

The Joondalup lead got out to eight again early in the second term but the Senators took charge heading towards half-time and were leading 39-33 at the break.

However, the Wolfpack took over in the second half and another run of 13 straight points saw them take a double-figure lead before the final 11-point margin was the biggest of the game.

Joondalup improves to a 10-1 record with the win with two victories since that first loss of the season to Cockburn while the Senators have now lost consecutive matches to be 4-4 in their championship defence.

Teige Morrell produced another strong showing for the Wolfpack with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists on 10/19 shooting while Chelsea Belcher put up 22 points in 17 minutes off the bench on 5/6 three-point shooting.

It was a Wolves team missing Nes'eya Parker-Williams and Tia Ucich, but Isabelle Miotti stepped up for 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, 243-game veteran Emma Klasztorny 10 points and eight boards, and 259-veteran Shani Amos nine points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Reigning MVP Stacey Barr top-scored for Warwick with 17 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals while Karly Murphy added 14 points and 13 boards, Chloe Forster 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Nat Burton eight points, eight boards and three assists.

Too easy for Teige Morrell ?

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Magic beat Tigers in captain's 350th game

The Mandurah Magic made it a double win weekend and also celebrated the 350th game of captain Rachel Halleen in style by beating the Willetton Tigers 80-73 in a battle of last season's preliminary finalists.

Both teams were top four teams last year with the Magic just falling short of the Warwick Senators in the preliminary final while the Tigers got to the Grand Final where they also lost to the Senators.

HALLEEN REVELS IN SHARING 350TH WITH MANDURAH COMMUNITY

Each of them have championship aspirations this season too and not much separated them coming into the game with the Magic 5-2 after winning away to Lakeside on Friday with Willetton 6-2 fresh off beating East Perth two weeks ago.

Mandurah got off to a hot start on its home floor in the milestone game for captain Halleen. The Magic raced out to a 14-point lead in the opening quarter and while the Tigers kept fighting, could never seriously threaten.

Mandurah was leading by 12 at quarter-time before still being up 12 at half-time and then leading by nine at three quarter-time thanks to a three on the buzzer from games record holder Casey Mihovilovich.

The Magic then held firm in the fourth quarter to resist every surge from Willetton to claim the seven-point win and celebrate the 350th game of Halleen in style with her finishing with four points and three rebounds despite going 0/7 from long-range.

Sarah Toeaina top-scored for the Magic with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists on 8/12 shooting with the walking legend Mihovilovich delivering 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals with 4/6 three-point shooting.

New import Hannah Hank added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists in her second game with Carly Boag delivering 12 points, seven boards and four assists.

Willetton slipped to 6-3 with the loss playing a first game in two weeks with newly announced WNBL free agent Alex Sharp putting up 27 points and seven rebounds.

New Tigers import Melisa Brcaninovic put up 21 points, 10 boards and four assists with captain Desiree Kelley delivering 11 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Hawthorne dominates in Lightning win over Slammers

The Lakeside Lightning got back on the winner's list to stay in touch win the top eight by beating the South West Slammers 94-50 on Saturday night.

Lakeside opened the weekend with a home loss to the Mandurah Magic ahead of making the trip south to Eaton Recreation Centre to take on a Slammers team having lost their previous 20 matches in the NBL1 West.

It didn’t take long for the Lightning to take control of the contest with 34 points to eight in the first quarter. Lakeside was still leading 46-20 by half-time before putting up another 31 points to 15 in the third period and then going on to score the 44-point win.

The result improves the Lightning to a 4-8 record on the season while the Slammers slip to 0-9 with 21 consecutive losses and having lost 62 of the past 63 matches now.

Laci Hawthorne produced her biggest performance of the season for Lakeside with 34 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Captain Caitie Jones also had 19 points, six boards, four assists and four steals on 7/11 shooting from the floor with Kylee Smith adding nine points, four rebounds and four assists, and Molly Wilson eight points, seven boards and three assists.

Former Lakeside championship winning guard Paris Duffield top-scored for the Slammers with 15 points, six rebounds and two steals on 3/5 three-point shooting.

Charlotte Mills added nine points and two rebounds, and Kate Williams eight points.

Laci Hawthorne posted a monster double-double.

3??4?? points 1??5?? rebounds & 3?? blocks ?

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MEN

Hawks fire against Suns with Clarke back running ship

The Perry Lakes Hawks welcomed back championship winning point guard Mitch Clarke and got back to winning as a result beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 96-86.

The Hawks had won six straight before a slip up to the Warwick Senators last Saturday night without the presence of two-time championship winning point guard Clarke, but his return on Saturday at Bendat Basketball Centre highlighted his importance.

The Eastern Suns arrived having won three straight including both last week against the Senators and Magic, and were looking to keep the momentum going, but Perry Lakes was having none of it.

The Hawks put up 22 points to 16 in the first quarter and another 26 to 20 in the second to go into half-time leading 48-36. Another 25 points to 20 in the third term and Perry Lakes had the game wrapped up and went on to win by 10.

The victory improves the Hawks to 10-2 on the season while the Eastern Suns are now 6-4 under new coach Aaron Trahair.

Mitch Clarke returned after missing last Saturday's loss to the Senators and finished with 21 points and seven assists including hitting 4/6 from three-point range.

Daniel Alexander also had 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, Andrew Ferguson 16 points, five boards and five assists, and Matt Leary 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Joe Cook-Green continued his hot form for Kalamunda with 31 points, five rebounds and five assists while hitting 4/7 from downtown.

Albert Almanza contributed 14 points, Raphell Thomas-Edwards 13 points and eight rebounds, and captain Rob Huntington nine points, five boards and two assists.

Dupree sparks Giants to dominant second half

The Goldfields Giants began their double-header weekend on the road with a terrific second half performance sparked by Michael Dupree to beat the East Perth Eagles 93-87.

Goldfields arrived down in Perth on the back of a strong home win over the Joondalup Wolves while East Perth had broken through for its first win of the season against the South West Slammers.

That set up a fascinating match up at Herb Graham Recreation Centre and it was the Eagles who started the better to lead by five points and to still be up 49-46 by half-time.

However, sparked by Michael Dupree, Goldfields turned the tide in the second half with 25 points to 17 in the third term, and another 22 to 19 in the fourth to end up claiming the six-point victory.

The win gives the Giants consecutive wins to improve to 4-5 ahead of taking on the Willetton Tigers on Sunday while the Eagles are 1-9 before playing the Cockburn Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium also on Sunday.

Michael Dupree finished the night with 23 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists for Goldfields with Kon Anguik contributing 16 points, four boards, four assists and two steals.

Lafonzo Smith added 14 points and nine rebounds, Mayo Malek 14 points, nine boards, three assists and two steals, Damon Ballantyne 13 points, four rebounds and two steals, and captain Jerome Reid eight points, seven boards and five assists.

Lee Roberts finished with another 26 points and eight rebounds for East Perth with Taylor Young contributing 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, Nic Filpo 15 points, three assists and three steals, and captain Jarrad Anastasio 12 points and six rebounds.

Wolves take full toll of shorthanded Senators

The Joondalup Wolves took full advantage of a shorthanded Warwick Senators on Saturday night scoring the 107-77 win in the Battle of Joondalup.

The Senators were still without starting point guard Ethan Elliott with a hand injury but 186-game veteran Jay Thwaites was busy getting married and that took his captain Cody Ellis out of the clash too in what would otherwise have been his 200-game milestone.

That left Warwick short on three of their most important players against a Wolfpack team getting back former Senators guard Bryan Michaels, and it was Joondalup who took charge in the second period.

It was a close contest in the first quarter but the Wolves piled on 36 points to 17 in the second to go into half-time leading 60-39.

The Wolfpack again outscored Warwick 47 points to 38 in the second half to score the 30-point win to improve to 8-4 on the season in a bounce back performance from last week's loss in Kalgoorlie to the Goldfields Giants.

The Senators slip to 5-4 with the loss as they now will look to hit back as Ellis celebrates his 200-game milestone next Saturday away to the Willetton Tigers.

Wolves import Quintin Dove delivered 23 points and eight rebounds in the win with Bryan Michaels adding 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and CJ Turnage 18 points, five boards, four assists and three steals.

Mathiang Muo also had 16 points, two rebounds and two assists, and Brody England a career-high with the Wolves of 14 points after previously playing 75 matches with the South West Slammers.

Uche Dibiamaka was one player the Senators did welcome back and he had 18 points and three rebounds with Connor Mincherton putting up 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Caleb Davis 11 points and two boards.

Tigers win cracker over Magic with Hoskins/Abrom combining for 73

The Mandurah Magic went ever so close to breaking through for a first win of the 2023 season before being denied by Gorjok Gak at the foul line with the Willetton Tigers winning 108-106.

Mandurah suffered an eighth consecutive loss to start the season on Friday night at Lakeside before returning home to host a Willetton team looking to bounce back from a loss in Geraldton last week.

The Tigers did welcome back Mark Worthington as well but it was a stunning opening from a motivated Magic outfit who piled on 34 points in the first quarter to lead by as much as 24 at one point, and being up 34-19 by quarter-time.

Darnell Hoskins dropped 35 in Willetton's win tonight ?

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Willetton did score 12 straight points in the second quarter to work back into the contest but the Magic were still leading 64-50 by half-time.

The Tigers turned it on in the third period with 30 points to 16, and then with just under two minutes to play, 315-game veteran Damien Scott drained a three to put them on top by five.

However, Mandurah responded with a finish to Isaac Abergut before Dequan Abrom showed his range and penchant for the big moment with the tying three-pointer.

Willetton still had time and Gorjok Gak was fouled down low, he made both to put the Tigers up two and that's where they stayed with Abrom's desperation three not falling for Mandurah.

The victory improves Willetton to 7-3 on the season while Mandurah slips to 0-9.

Darnell Hoskins Jr was once again scintillating for Willetton with 35 points, five rebounds and four assists on 6/18 three-point shooting but 4/6 inside the arc and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

Gorjok Gak contributed 23 points, five rebounds and five assists, Josh Ibukunoluwa 14 points, Michael Vigor nine points, four rebounds and four assists, and Damien Scott eight points, five rebounds and five assists.

Dequan Abrom produced his best performance of the season for the Magic with 38 points, six assists and four rebounds on 6/14 three-point shooting.

Fellow import Celneque Bobbitt II had 23 points and three assists in his third game while Isaac Abergut contributed 20 points with 6/8 shooting from beyond the arc.

Dequan Abrom from the parking lot! ?

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Lightning make it a double win weekend

The Lakeside Lightning made it a double win weekend by heading south to beat the South West Slammers 87-74 on Saturday night.

Lakeside was fresh off beating the Mandurah Magic at home on Friday night and while Hayden Brown helped set that win up with 18 points in the first half, he didn’t reappear due to injury after half-time.

He also didn’t play on Saturday night at Eaton Recreation Centre but the Lightning still had enough weapons to take care of business beginning with a 30-21 first quarter.

The Lightning added another 24 points to 19 in the second quarter and then turned that 14-point lead at the half into an eventual 13-point victory.

It's now consecutive wins for Lakeside on the back of a four-game losing slide as they improve to a 5-7 record with the Slammers 1-9 with eight losses in-a-row.

Kyle Armour top-scored for Lakeside with 17 points and four assists with Rowan Mackenzie adding 16 points, five assists, four boards and two steals, and Josh Davey 13 points and eight rebounds.

Tom Parkinson added 12 points and four rebounds on 3/4 three-point shooting from the 245-game veteran with Max Richards contributing 11 points, four boards and two steals.

Buay Tuach led the charge for the Slammers once more with 24 points, six rebounds, five steals and two assists while Manyiel Wugol contributed 13 points, three boards and two assists, and Clive Weeden 11 points and seven rebounds.

Buay Tuach with the LONG range bomb to beat the buzzer ??

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Buccs prevail in dramatic Grand Final rematch 

Some stars might have been missing in the Grand Final rematch but that didn’t detract from the spectacle with two late free-throws from Malik Meunier delivering the Geraldton Buccaneers the 92-91 win over the Rockingham Flames.

It might have been a Geraldton team without Zac Gattorna and Rockingham might have arrived at Active West Stadium without Tom Jervis and Ryan Godfrey, but there was nothing that could have made it a more eventful match up.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since last year's Grand Final where Rockingham produced a huge fourth quarter to claim a first championship and then go on to the win the National Championship a week later.

Geraldton would have been waiting anxiously to face them again in 2023 and what resulted was one of the more dramatic games of the season.

Rockingham did manage to open up a seven-point lead in the first quarter and be up five at quarter-time, but the Buccaneers hit back in the second period and by half-time, the Flames were only just leading 54-51.

Rockingham managed to go back up 10 in the third quarter and were then leading by 14 in the fourth, but Geraldton refused to go away spurred on by the remarkable home crowd support they receive.

Malik Meunier started the fightback hitting a three-pointer before Shaun Stewart got aggressive and made some tough finishes. Rockingham was still up five but then buckets to Liam Hunt and Stewart made it a one-point game, and the building was rocking.

Geraldton grabbed the lead on a layup to Stewart on a Meunier led break before Callum Beard restored Rockingham's one-point edge with a strong inside finish on the dime from Marshall Nelson.

That set up the finish where Meunier took it hard to the rack and while he was out of control, the foul was called and he went to the stripe, made both and it was party time for the Geraldton locals.

Liam Hunt came up huge again for the Buccaneers with the 2019 Grand Final MVP producing 26 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Malik Meunier added 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, Shaun Stewart 15 points, seven boards and five assists, and Fletcher Klasztorny 14 points and five rebounds.

It's consecutive losses now for Rockingham after having not lost since July 8 last year with Jeremy Combs superb with 23 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

Devondrick Walker added 20 points, four rebounds and four assists, Justin Beard 16 points, 14 boards and three assists, Callum Beard 15 points and six rebounds, and Marshall Nelson 15 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Jeremy Combs with the MAJOR put-back JAM ?

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