NBL1 West Recap | Sunday Round 12

Gorjok Gak and Darnell Hoskins Jr lifted the Willetton Tigers to a big Sunday NBL1 West bounce back win over the South West Slammers after their women kept firing while Ethan Elliott and Caleb Davis helped the Warwick Senators win a heartstopper over the Geraldton Buccaneers.

The lone Sunday women's match to close Round 12 in the NBL1 West saw the Willetton Tigers beat the South West Slammers 119-63.

The corresponding men's match saw the Tigers beat the Slammers 119-89 while the Warwick Senators defeated the Geraldton Buccaneers 95-94 at Warwick Stadium.

NBL1 WEST RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 12

NBL1 WEST RECAP | FRIDAY ROUND 12

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WOMEN

Tigers dominate Slammers to make it six straight

The Willetton Tigers continued their imposing form in the NBL1 West with the 119-63 Sunday afternoon victory at home to the South West Slammers.

The Tigers were back at Willetton Basketball Stadium to close the round in the NBL1 West with a five-game winning streak including the win in Rockingham on Friday where they snapped the nine-match winning run of the Flames.

That meant it was quite the task for a Slammers team yet to win in 2023 including losing by 42 points the previous night at home to the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Willetton took charge of the contest virtually from the outset and piled on 40 points to 14 in the opening quarter to already be leading by as much as 29 points in the opening stanza and going on a 20-0 run.

The Tigers then continued to build on their advantage through the rest of the contest to end up leading by 42 points in the second quarter, 44 in the third and then to end up claiming the win to the tune of 56 points.

The result means that Willetton has now won six straight to improve to a 12-3 record while South West is 0-13 on the season having lost 25 in-a-row and 66 of the last 67 in the competition.

Amy Jacobs put together her best performance at Willetton since returning home from college to deliver 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks while shooting 4/10 from three-point territory.

Alex Sharp added 20 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks for the Tigers, Melisa Brcaninovic 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and captain Desiree Kelley 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals.

Kiarra Waite also had 13 points and three rebounds, Sophie Doran 12 points, four boards, four assists and three steals, and 246-game veteran Jess Jakens nine points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

It was another tough afternoon for the Slammers with Kate Williams finishing with 15 points on 5/19 shooting while Grace Adams added 12 points and three rebounds, Bree Chalk 11 points and four boards, Jasmine Barrett nine points, four rebounds and three assists, and Paris Duffield nine points and seven boards.

Desiree Kelley takes full advantage of the fast break ?‍??

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MEN

Gak fires Tigers to bounce back win over Slammers

The Willetton Tigers responded to a couple of tough losses to beat the South West Slammers 119-89 at home on Sunday with Gorjok Gak showing why he has such a bright NBL future.

Willetton came into the contest on the back of losing its past two matches to the Lakeside Lightning and Rockingham Flames by a combined 46 points to drop from the top four heading into the clash on Sunday at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Slammers arrived after losing the night before the Perry Lakes Hawks at home by 26 points.

The Tigers came out ready to make a statement despite missing Damien Scott, Mark Worthington and Hunter Clarke, and put up 28 points to 14 in the opening term. Willetton would lead by as much 17 in the second period but the Slammers kept in touch with an 11-0 run to only trail by nine at the interval.

Willetton took control further in the second half, though, with the lead ballooning to 20 points in the third quarter, and 30 in the fourth as they would outscore South West 68 points to 47 to end up winning by 30.

The victory improves the Tigers to an 11-5 record on the season to stay in the top four hunt while the Slammers are 3-12 with the two losses this weekend.

The Slammers had no answers for the awesome presence of Gorjok Gak with the South East Melbourne Phoenix big man putting up 27 points, 21 rebounds and six assists on 12/21 shooting.

Willetton's import guard Darnell Hoskins Jr was tremendous too with 27 points, four rebounds and two assists on 5/12 three-point shooting.

Michael Vigor added 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Travis Fee 14 points, nine boards, five assists and three steals, and Tom Gerovich 13 points and seven rebounds.

Manyiel Wugol produced his best performance of the season for the Slammers with 30 points with 5/10 three-point shooting.

Buay Tuach added 27 points and five assists, and Ben Stevens 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Elliott, Davis lift Senators to win over Buccs

The Warwick Senators stormed home at home on Sunday sparked by Ethan Elliott and Caleb Davis to overrun the Geraldton Buccaneers to win 95-94 at Warwick Stadium.

Both teams were coming off a Saturday night win with the Senators bouncing back impressively to beat the Mandurah Magic by 24 points while the Buccs started their double-header on the road with a seven-point win against the Eastern Suns.

It turned out a contest full of seesawing fortunes with Geraldton leading 25-21 by quarter-time.

Warwick turned things around in the second quarter with 22 points to 14 and that saw the home team leading 43-39 at the interval.

It was Geraldton's turn to take back control in the third quarter with some spectacular three-point shooting from Aaron Ralph, Shaun Stewart and Malik Meunier.

The Buccs would put up 36 points in the third quarter to lead by 10 points at three quarter-time, and then to go up as much as 13 in the fourth but the Senators weren’t going away.

Geraldton still had the momentum when Johny Narkle threw down a dunk on the breakaway after a Senators turnover with 6:45 to play, but the home team was just warming up.

Point guard Ethan Elliott got aggressive and made some strong buckets going inside, he made four of them over the next four minutes and when he converted a three-point play with just two minutes to go, it was a two-point ball game.

Caleb Davis then showed his love of the big moments hitting ga three to tie scores up in the final minute. In the end, first-year Senators recruit Connor Mincherton hit a free-throw that broke the deadlock and secured Warwick's one-point win.

There was a lot to like from the Senators with Ethan Elliott producing 30 points and two assists, and Caleb Davis 22 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks with 12/12 shooting from the foul line.

Captain Cody Ellis also had 14 points, three steals and two rebounds, Connor Mincherton 14 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists, and new import Ilarion Bonhomme Jr six points, four assists and two rebounds.

The Buccs would return home feeling they missed a chance for two road wins this weekend to keep pace with the Rockingham Flames at the top of the standings.

But there was a lot to like with Liam Hunt still to come back in with Malik Meunier delivering another 22 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals on 3/6 three-point shooting.

Zac Gattorna added 21 points and eight rebounds, Ryan Blanchett 17 points and 10 boards, Shaun Stewart 16 points, and Aaron Ralph went 3/5 from downtown for nine points showing why he's second all-time for three-point makes in the league.

Zac Gattorna's shot is ?????? ?

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